One-off fraud case, yet IT industry rattled

The IT sector is in the limelight again, but for all the wrong reasons. "The scale of fraud is unprecedented in Indian corporate world and how this continued for a long period needs a thorough probe," said Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies. "The Satyam (SATYAM.BO : 39.95 -139.15) fiasco is a stand-alone case of failure of corporate governance and it should be viewed in this light."
Expressing shock at the alleged multi-year mismanagement of revenues, Suresh Senapaty, executive director and CFO of Wipro Ltd (WIPRO.NS : 244.65 1.95) said, "Global standards of corporate transparency are very high in India and we are confident that this is an isolated case and not representative of the IT industry."
KPMG, the consulting firm, said that the incident would have a negative impact on the industry as IT is a major part of Indian industry. "We have to make it known that this is a 'one off' incident and should be treated accordingly," said Russel Pereira, National Industry Director, Financial Services, KPMG.
Even if the incident does not impact the image of Indian IT industry, it has put corporate governance scenario in focus. "If you are squeaky clean, such things don't happen to you," said the Nasscom chief. "Ramalinga Raju's (Satyam chairman) letter hints that once you start riding the tiger, it becomes impossible to get down," he said.