A tech company backed by Rishi Sunak’s wife is reported to be closing its Russian office following widespread criticism.
Infosys, in which Akshata Murty owns a 0.93pc holding valued at £727m, is looking to move its Moscow workers to other countries, according to the BBC.
The Indian group has been criticised for continuing its operations in Russia despite Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Infosys declined to comment. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday that Mr Sunak needs to “come clean” on whether his family is benefitting from investments linked to Russia.
He told Sky News: “I would have thought the Chancellor would actually want to come clean on this and say ‘actually I can be very, very clear that my household doesn’t benefit from any money that’s come in any way from Russia during this invasion of Ukraine.’”
Mr Sunak said earlier this week he found criticism of Ms Murty’s family business “very upsetting”.
He told the BBC he did not have “the best of weekends” and compared his experience to that of actor Will Smith who slapped comedian Chris Rock following a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Infosys was founded by Ms Murty’s father, Narayana Murthy, in 1981 and he has retained a 0.4pc shareholding since leaving in 2014. Mr Murthy, 75, has a $4.5bn (£3.4bn) fortune, according to Forbes.
His stake in Infosys is worth about £310m. Ms Murty is thought to have received almost £12m in dividends in the past year from Infosys, according to Bloomberg data.
The value of her holding increased by over £200m in the past year due to a jump in the share price.
During the same period, Infosys also made two dividend payments that would have netted Ms Murty another £11.6m before tax, analysis by The Telegraph found last month.
It is not known whether Ms Murty kept the dividend payouts.
