The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced criminal charges against two former top Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. executives, and said the Teaneck-based company will pay $25 million to settle a related civil case.
According to published reports, criminal charges were filed against Cognizant’s former president Gordon Coburn, and its former chief legal officer Steven Schwartz, in a federal court in Newark relating to their roles in a bribery scheme for the construction of the 250,000-square-metre Kits campus for the company’s Indian subsidiary.
The two executives left the company between September and November 2016 and have denied any wrongdoing. Details about illegal payments emerged from the U.S. indictment order which charged Coburn and Schwartz of approving illicit payments to Indian officials.
A press release from Cognizant reported that the company settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by consenting to the entry of an administrative order. In total, the resolutions require the company to pay approximately $28 million to the DOJ and SEC, an amount that is consistent with the accrual previously recorded by the Company.
“We are pleased to reach these resolutions with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,” said Francisco D’Souza, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Cognizant.
“We have also made further enhancements to our compliance processes, procedures and resources. It is important to note that this entire matter did not involve our work with clients or affect our ability to provide the quality services our clients expect from us,” D’Souza concluded.
