Wipro informs US regulator of delay in filing annual report

BANGALORE: Software major Wipro has informed US Securities and Exchange Commission that its annual report for 2009-10 is expected to be filed next month, beyond the due date of September 30, due to its ongoing investigation into alleged embezzlement of funds by an employee.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed "Wipro has filed Form 12b-25 informing the commission that it expected to file its annul report by November 10, 2010," a company release said.

The Bangalore-headquartered Wipro awaits the conclusion of an ongoing investigation initiated by the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors to file its Form 20-F, it said.

In February, Wipro said it had discovered embezzlement of about Rs 32 crore by one of its employees during November 2006 to December 2009.

The release said in response to the discovery of this embezzlement, Wipro, together with its Audit Committee, conducted an investigation to determine, among other things, the materiality of the amounts embezzled and to assess the design and implementation of internal control processes.

Based on its review of the facts discovered during its investigation, Wipro believed that the amounts embezzled were "not material", it said adding the company had since then recovered "substantially all of the embezzled amounts".

The Audit Committee had commenced an investigation, together with its independent counsel, and the accountants they engaged to evaluate certain issues that arose out of that investigation. Wipro will finalise and file its Annual Report by November 10, 2010, after this investigation was complete, the release said.

Wipro had filed its financial statements for year ended March 31, 2010 in India and also for the quarter ended June 30, it added.