Wipro will pay $5 million to US securities commission in embezzlement probe case

Wipro has confirmed that the company has agreed to pay a $5 million civil money penalty to the US Securities and Exchange Commission so as to close a six-year old embezzlement investigation.

Wipro said that it had neither admitted nor denied the SEC's allegations that it violated provisions of the Securities Exchange Act.

"Under the terms of settlement, the company consents to pay a civil money penalty of $5 million, to cease and desist from committing or causing violations of the Exchange Act and to undertake certain follow-through actions," Wipro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company also said that it reached the settlement because it was in the best interests of all 'its stakeholders to resolve this prolonged matter'.

The SEC investigation began after Wipro discovered in 2009 that an employee had embezzled about $4 million from 2006 onwards. The company had publicly disclosed the embezzlement and had conducted an internal and external investigation.