Infosys paid $16 million over a course of five years to lobbying firm, Synergy 360 to secure government projects in Australia. This was revealed by Andrew Groth, executive vice presient, Australia, Infosys during a hearing of a Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA). Groth said that Infosys has ended ties with the lobbying firm.
Synergy 360 is in the middle of a political storm and is linked to a former member of Parliament Stuart Robert.
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The development comes at a time when reports have come indicting Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) executives for a “bribe-for-jobs” scam, which the company is investigating.
Infosys had beaten Accenture and IBM to win a deal in November 2019, from Australian Federal Government’s Services to transform the entitlement calculation engine for the nation’s welfare system.
Groth, said, “Infosys engages third party lobbyists from time to time. Synergy 360 was appointed in 2019 and was subjected to on-boarding processes and adherence to supplier code of conduct.
Synergy 360 was appointed to advice on some public sector business and help us design, build and deliver IT solutions. I would like to advice the committee that the relationship with this company has ended”.
Groth, said, that Infosys has taken steps to enhance internal governance in Australia, including additional mandated training of all our people working in the government sector.
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He told the committee that Infosys has been doing business in Australia for the last 22 years. “A large part of the business was in commercial sector like financial services, utilities, and others. Infosys took a strategic step to engage with government sector and thus engaged Synergy 360 to help Infosys as it looked to grow the government business,” he said.