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https://www.wsj.com/articles/cognizant-to-pay-25-million-to-settle-bribery-claims-11550252878 Time to look at our backyard for outsource contractors Two former executives of outsourcing-operations company Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. were charged by U.S. authorities with foreign bribery for allegedly approving illicit payments to help build a corporate campus in India. The Teaneck, N.J.-based company also agreed to pay $25 million to settle with U.S. authorities. Gordon Coburn, the company’s former president, and Steven Schwartz, its former chief legal officer, authorized a $2 million bribe to at least one government official in India to secure permits necessary for the construction of an office campus there to support roughly 17,000 employees, prosecutors said. “Bribery to further corporate goals is an illusory path to long-term success,” said Charles E. Cain, chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s antiforeign-bribery unit. Cognizant has more than 250,000 employees globally, more than half of whom work in various locations in India . Cognizant helps companies outsource their information technology and other business processes. Earlier this month, the company reported revenue of $16 billion in 2018, up 8.9% from the year prior. To conceal Cognizant’s role in the bribery scheme, Messrs. Coburn and Schwartz, and others, agreed to use a construction company to secure the permit, prosecutors said. The construction company would pay the bribe, and Cognizant would later reimburse the firm through disguised cost overruns on the project, located in Chennai, India, prosecutors said. The construction company received the permit in late June 2014; between March 2015 and January 2016 Cognizant issued several payments to the construction company, including a reimbursement for the bribe and related expenses, according to prosecutors. “The allegations…describe a sophisticated international bribery scheme authorized and concealed by C-suite executives of a publicly traded multinational company,” said Brian A. Benczkowski, an assistant attorney general, in a statement. Hank Walther, an attorney for Mr. Coburn, said he was disappointed that U.S. authorities chose to pursue the allegations. “Mr. Coburn intends to vigorously fight all charges,” he said. Roberto Finzi, a lawyer for Mr. Schwartz, said his client was innocent and did nothing wrong. “He will fight these false and unfair charges,” he said. Messrs. Coburn and Schwartz were charged in a 12-count indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in New Jersey, prosecutors said. They were charged with three counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as seven counts of falsifying books and records, a count of circumventing accounting controls and a conspiracy count. The FCPA, which is jointly enforced by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, prohibits the use of bribes to government officials to get or keep business. The two men were also sued in a civil complaint by the SEC, which seeks permanent injunctions, monetary penalties and officer-and-director bans against them. Prosecutors on Friday also announced that they declined to prosecute the company, citing Cognizant’s self-disclosure of the allegations, as well as its cooperation and remediation. Cognizant agreed to pay $19 million in disgorgement and a $6 million civil penalty to the SEC to resolve the agency’s claims. Cognizant said it was pleased to resolve the case, citing its voluntary self-disclosure, internal investigation and cooperation. “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,” said Francisco D’Souza, the company’s vice chairman and CEO, in a statement.

http://redwiretimes.com/singapore-in-brief/abang-labour-mp-zainal-saparis-populist-outsourcing-rant-is-a-load-of-bullsht-heres-why/ My first thought when I read it in the papers was pretty much the same. If the NTUC and NWC etc did its job ... will it be better? ?.. And surely he knows. . Or should know .. or maybe confused about what hat he is wearing. Or like the article suggest, is a PR exercise.

looking for man power company to clean up golf club house, budget is $13,000 per month max. man power needed around 9 to 10. PM ME

Mr Kevin Liang's brand-new Ferrari can usually go from zero to 100kmh in four seconds. As of last Thursday, it could not even crawl on its own power. Just 11/2 months old and costing more than $650,000, the F430 Coupe supercar was among the 100 vehicles submerged in the 500-space basement carpark at Tessarina condominium in Bukit Timah, as a result of a sudden flash flood that afternoon. Mr Liang, 47, a resident, received a call from his wife about his car's fate while he was at work. He said: 'It seemed that there was nothing I could do, so I didn't rush home. Besides, it is the company car, so I checked with the finance department and found that it is comprehensively insured.' He is the chief executive of the EPS group of companies which specialises in IT manpower outsourcing. Still, when he returned home that night and saw the submerged car, he could not help feeling sad. He had recently traded in an Audi R8 for the Ferrari - a reward for the directors of his company, who also get to use the car. His 18-year-old son put on swimming trunks to take pictures of the car that night. The next morning, Mr Liang went to the basement, after the water had been pumped away by PUB contractors, to watch his car being towed away. He said: 'It was completely muddy and it stank. I retrieved personal items like my CashCard and petrol card, but for now it's with the dealer and I'm waiting for updates.' Mr Liang added that while he does not know how bad the situation is, the damage looked bad. He and his wife have since had to park their other cars, a Mercedes and a BMW, on higher ground in the basement carpark. When The Sunday Times visited the Tessarina yesterday, some residents expressed their unhappiness about the event. Ms Viviana Halim, 23, who is in customer service, helped her mother drive away the family's Toyota, but their other car, a Honda, was submerged. She said: 'It may have been an act of God, but the management could have told us early that water was flowing into the carpark so we could have saved both cars.' Analyst Norman Yap, 32, found that the flooding had cut off power to his block and the lifts. He had to walk up five floors to his unit. He said: 'It has been two days now, and no one has told us if any preventive measures are being taken. This may be a rare event, but the infrastructure should be in place to handle it.' Mr Liang said: 'I was concerned about casualties in the flood, so perhaps the Government can relook the drainage system.' The Government has since said that plans to widen and deepen drainage networks in the area are being speeded up. 'I understand that this is a very unexpected event. The water just came rushing in, so what can you do?' Mr Liang added. Link on EDMW http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthre...4253&page=8