Illustrative image: Chennai skyline with office towers, an elevated metro line and flyovers. — Illustrative image. Photo: Karthikeyan321, CC BY 4.0. Logo shown to identify the sanctioned company; no affiliation or endorsement.

Planning Permit, Chennai Campus Edition, 2.7M sq ft

One permit, one $2 million bribe, delivered via contractor. Reimbursed by change order. Paperwork included.

Sold2014–2016Regional

$2M≈ €1.79MAs stated in the source: a $2 million bribe

Already sold, to Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, in 2014–2016. Nothing on Lobay is for sale.

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Seller

Role: senior government official of the state of Tamil Nadu
Place: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Country: India

Item specifics

Condition	Final. SEC cease-and-desist order with findings, 15 Feb 2019
Location	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Seller	Senior government official of the state of Tamil Nadu (name not listed)
Winning bidder	Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (US)
Category	Construction
Sold	2014–2016
Payment method	Via the contractor, reimbursed through falsified contract change orders
Returns	No returns. Disgorgement USD 16,394,351, interest USD 2,773,017, penalty USD 6,000,000 (2019)

Description

What the bribe bought

The bribe got Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation a planning permit, issued November 2014, for its 2.7 million sq ft campus in Chennai.

What happened

According to SEC findings, Cognizant authorized a contractor to pay a $2 million bribe to a senior government official of the state of Tamil Nadu for the Chennai planning permit. The company then reimbursed the contractor through falsified contract change orders. In February 2019 the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order with disgorgement of $16,394,351 (covering all conduct in the order, which includes several permits), prejudgment interest of $2,773,017 and a civil monetary penalty of $6,000,000.

Read the article

SEC Charges Cognizant and Two Former Executives With FCPA Violations · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Official record

In the Matter of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings (Release No. 85149) · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Shipping & returns

Authority	Kind	Amount	Year
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission	disgorgement (all conduct in the order)	$16,394,351≈ €14.7MAs stated in the source: disgorgement of $16,394,351	2019
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission	prejudgment interest	$2,773,017≈ €2.48MAs stated in the source: prejudgment interest of $2,773,017	2019
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission	civil penalty	$6M≈ €5.36MAs stated in the source: a civil monetary penalty of $6,000,000	2019