February, 18, 2010

Information technology major Wipro has changed the senior leadership team of its finance department after detecting a fraud allegedly committed by one of its employees, who siphoned off around $4 million from company’s funds by getting access to a colleague’s password.After the discovery of the embezzlement, Wipro has tightened its processes in the finance department.“We have very stringent processes in place but they were not being followed. Now, the company is ensuring that these are followed by everyone,” said Shreemal.

Legal experts said Wipro’s case is a rare one in the IT industry as workers in the sector follow very high ethics. “Cases like fraud and cheating are not a rule in the IT sector but exception,” said S R Arun of ALMT Legal Partners.He said the maximum punishment in such cases is up to 3-7 years of imprisonment, along with a fine.The money was diverted from one of Wipro’s bank accounts over the last couple of years and came to light only in December last year when it showed an overdraft transaction despite the company having sufficient balance.

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