Cognizant agrees to pay $25 million to settle SEC’s bribery charge

Mumbai: US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions has agreed to pay $25 million (Rs 178 crore) to settle charges towards violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.

The US regulator said Friday that two former Cognizant executives were charged for their roles in facilitating payments of millions of dollars in bribe to an Indian government official.

The SEC alleged that in 2014, a senior government official from Tamil Nadu demanded a $2-million bribe from a construction firm responsible for building Cognizant’s 2.7-million-sq-ft campus in Chennai.