Shareholder attempts to oust Pfizer India Managing Director for money laundering, bribery, and other corrupt acts.

In an unusual legal move a Pfizer shareholder, Mr. Ashok Idnani, is attempting to oust Pfizer's managing director in India, Mr. Kewal Handa.

Mr. Idnani has given a special notice to Pfizer under Section 190 of India's "Companies Act" that he will request the "removal of Mr. Kewal Handa from his directorship at the ensuring annual general meeting."

The reasons for asking for Mr. Handa's removal are allegations of money laundering, bribery, breach of fiduciary duties, and other corrupt acts.

Mr. Idnani is also accusing Mr. Handa of authorizing "goons of a detective agency to shadow the day-to-day, hour-to-hour movements of some shareholders, including Mr. Dinesh Lakhani, Mr. Mathuradas, and others including a senior vice president of Trent Industries Mr. Phene and the managing director of Hindjua Hospital, Mr. Pramod Lele."

Additionally, the complaint details allegations that Mr. Handa would have illegally transferred the rights to an apartment "from the company to himself in surreptitious manner."

Some of my readers may remember that I covered Mr. Idnani's story last year, in the following articles:

1. Pfizer Finance Executive Blows the Whistle - Part One
2. Pfizer Finance Executive Blows the Whistle – Part Two
3. Pfizer Finance Executive Blows the Whistle – Part Three
4. PFIZER CFO RESIGNS after PFE finance executive blows the whistle

Among many others, the following documents were provided to support Mr. Idnani's contentions:

This three piece series also resulted in several news articles, among them this one in Inda's Economic Times:

Pfizer CFO exit may have India angle
28 May, 2007, 0244 hrs IST,Gireesh Chandra Prasad & Javed Sayed, TNN

NEW DELHI: The recent exit of the world’s largest drug-maker Pfizer Inc’s CFO Alan Levin may have an India angle if the allegations of a US-based blog quoting a former Pfizer India employee are to be believed.

The blog, quoting Ashok S Idnani, an ex-deputy manager at Pfizer’s finance division in Mumbai alleges that Pfizer sold its Hyderabad manufacturing plant in 2004 at a price much lower than the market price, bribed government officials in violation of the MNC’s world-wide policies, and hired a detective agency to spy on unfriendly shareholders. It also accuses some unnamed Pfizer India officials of being involved in money laundering. Pfizer denies the allegations.

These allegations were made in a sensational three-part series carried by peterrost.blogspot.com in the week running up to the announcement of Mr Levin’s resignation on May 20. The blog claims that Mr Levin’s exit last Sunday may be a result of its campaign featuring the ‘revelations’ made by Mr Idnani.

However, it does not specify a direct link between Mr Levin and the allegations made by Mr Idnani. In a company statement Mr Levin said he was leaving the company to explore career opportunities outside Pfizer.

Pfizer India, on its part, completely denies the allegations. “Blog sites in general provide open and unfiltered forums for the exchange of all kinds of information that may or may not have any validity. To date, investigations completed in response to Mr Idnani’s claims have found them to be baseless.

Pfizer takes such claims seriously and has by Mr Idnani’s own admission dedicated significant amounts of time and resources to evaluate them thoroughly,” said a Pfizer India spokesperson in an e-mailed response to ET. Pfizer Inc did not respond to a questionnaire sent over the weekend.

A Pfizer India official told ET that the present top-level shifts in the parent company are very much part of its restructuring announced in January to cut costs and to invest in new business development. Pfizer had announced in January that it would cut 10,000 jobs and close down three research sites and two factories in the US, as well as a factory in Germany and research sites in Japan and France.

Sources in the domestic pharma industry however say some of the allegations are being taken seriously by Pfizer’s top brass in the US. Adds an industry veteran, who has visited the blog: “These charges don’t just appear serious. They are very serious.” But a Mumbai-based investment banker and ex-Pfizer employee, who has not seen these postings, dismisses the blog. “Peter Rost is a joker. I do not believe any of these allegations,” he says.

Another article followed in Business World (click on images to read):

Dr. Rost is a litigation consultant and pharmaceutical marketing expert. He is also the author of Killer Drug and The Whistleblower. 

Comments

[amit]

this info.about pfizer could be true but this has no relevance as it is happenening all across in pharma mncs in india.They take full advantage of the structural anomalies in indian govt. practices.Corruption is rampant here.So every corporate feels it is its right to use this country,its people.