Wipro Fraud by an Employee leaves IT Major Red Faced after Satyam Debacle

Wipro fraud by a finance department employee has made company loose more than $4 million in cash and have again put a big question mark on the future of outsourcing to IT companies in India. According the Wipro’s Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapathy this Wipro fraud an unfortunate incidence of embezzlement was discovered in December when an “overdraft” alert was received by the firm even though they assumed they were sufficient money in the company’s account.

This led to the warning signal which ultimately made the senior management aware of the fraud that was going on for close to 3 years.

The alleged fraudulent employee of the Wipro fraud whose identity has not been revealed had been working in the controllership division of the finance department since last 3 years. He had been responsible for maintaining finance books and also for transferring funds to authorized accounts as per the requirements.

According to the early investigation reports on Wipro fraud, the employee has been sending regular sums ranging from about 2 lakh to close to a crore into the his personal as well as family members accounts by stealing some passwords. The money was later being used for investment into land, property, jewelery and other purposes. The employee had been solely responsible for the fraud and had no accomplice as states by Mr Senapaty “Our investigations have revealed that only this employee was involved, and nobody else in the team had any clue”.

A thorough investigation on Wipro fraud is being carried out not just by an internal team but the help is also being taken by investigation experts as well as external auditors so that the loop holes in the system can be understood and more fail-proof system can be achieved by increasing the soundness of the overall system. “The company has carried out an investigation and is undertaking actions with respect to stricter adherence to processes.” Senapathy Said.

After investigations in Wipro fraud, about $2 millions have been recovered but this incidence have been an eye opener for the third largest software exporter in India that have always prided itself for excellent work ethics and sound control system. Suitable steps have been already taken by Mr senapathy to limit the extent of damage and reduce the losses.

Mr Senapaty was quick in pointing ““We have to be more alert in monitoring, and we need to tighten the processes for ensuring an early warning system and make it tougher,”, following which controllership division have already been disbanded. He has also made it mandatory for all the employees working in sensitive departments to sign an undertaking about stricter punishments for unauthorized transactions and also password sharing. Also employees in sensitive units will work on rotational bases so that one employee doesn’t stay at one division for a longer time.

All the details of wipro fraud have been put together in an interim report and shared with stakeholders, management and all the concerned authorities. The restructuring is on at the finance department of wipro.

Hope this new wipro fraud doesn’t dim the light of IT companies future in the country.