New Delhi: The United States has sought testimony from Larsen & Toubro chief SN Subrahmanyan, along with other L&T and Cognizant employees, to determine whether Cognizant Technology Solutions routed illicit payments through the construction giant to government officials between 2013 and 2015, The Mint reported.
The report stated that former Cognizant COO Gordon Coburn and Chief Legal Officer Steven Schwartz are facing legal proceedings related to bribery charges for allegedly approving illicit payments to expedite construction permits in India.
The US has asked Subrahmanyan to testify in the Cognizant bribery case, as he served as the head of L&T’s construction business when some employees of the multinational corporation, which specialises in information technology services, allegedly bribed Indian government officials in exchange for faster approvals to build Cognizant’s office campuses in Chennai and Pune.
The Mint report also stated that the US government has requested testimony from four other L&T employees—Ramesh Vadivelu, Adimoolam Thiyagarajan, Balaji Subramanian, and T Nanda Kumar. Additionally, two former Cognizant employees, identified as Venkatesan Natarajan and Nagasubramanian Gopalakrishnan, have been asked to testify in the case.
Subrahmanyan was appointed Chairperson and Managing Director of L&T on 1 October 2024.
The report mentioned that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had rejected the US State Department’s letter rogatory sent in March 2023. Consequently, the US Department of Justice approached the Indian government under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between the two countries to request that L&T Chairperson Subrahmanyan and others testify in the Cognizant bribery case.
Coburn left Cognizant in October 2016 after the multinational firm informed American authorities that some payments made in India could have breached the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
“As the Indian government has refused to process the letters rogatory authorised by this Court, the sole means to compel testimony from these witnesses is through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between the United States and India,” Coburn’s attorney, James P Loonam, a partner at the New York-headquartered law firm Jones Day, said in a submission. “Without question, evidence fundamental to a fair trial in this case is located in India,” the report stated.
(News9live.com couldn’t verify the report independently)
During the Cognizant bribery case, Larsen & Toubro chief SN Subrahmanyan was the head of L&T’s construction business in India. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
