(Reuters) -Shares of Persistent Systems declined 3% on Thursday, the most among Indian IT services providers, after a media report said that key client UnitedHealth Group was under a criminal probe for possible Medicare fraud.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s healthcare-fraud unit is overseeing the criminal investigation, which focuses on UnitedHealth’s Medicare Advantage business practices, the Wall Street Journal had reported. The company said it stood by the integrity of the program.
UnitedHealth is one of Persistent Systems’ top five clients and has an “over $100 million relationship” with the company, said Rahul Jain, an IT analyst at Dolat Capital.
It was not clear how much of Persistent Systems’ revenue is linked to UnitedHealth. The company did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
The stock was set for its worst day in one month and the biggest drag on the IT index, which was up 0.4%.
(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Sai Ishwarbharath B in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
