Cognizant settles bribery case for $28 mn; US justice dept charges Coburn

Information technology services major Cognizant on Friday said it had settled a bribery case related to some real estate assets in India by agreeing to pay $28 million to the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In September 2016, the Nasdaq-listed IT firm had first informed the US authorities that it was in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act due to payments made to the company’s facilities in India. This disclosure had led to the resignation of its then President Gordon Coburn.

“We are pleased to reach these resolutions with the US Department of Justice and the US SEC. With this announcement, we have taken a major step forward in putting this (the bribery incident) behind us,” said Francisco D’Souza, vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) at Cognizant.