Rishi Sunak denies benefiting from Putin regime through wife’s Infosys link

British finance minister Rishi Sunak said he has “nothing to do with” Infosys, denying that his family was potentially benefiting from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime as he faced questions about the Russian presence of the software giant in which his wife Akshata Murty has a share.

Indian-origin Sunak, 41, is married to Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder N Narayana Murthy. The Bengaluru-headquartered company, which has a presence in Russia, said its small team of employees in the country is meant for servicing the IT firm’s global clients.

The UK has slapped sanctions on Russia and hiked tariffs on a swathe of imports from vodka to steel, and banned exports of luxury goods in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The government has also frozen the assets of several people. Reforms have also been introduced to so-called Unexplained Wealth Orders, protecting agencies from exorbitant legal costs that have previously been a brake on prosecutions.

A Sky News reporter asked Sunak if his advice to businesses was not being followed within his own home. The minister stressed that the operations of individual companies was a matter for them.

“It’s been reported that you’ve got family links to Russia, that your wife apparently has a stake in the Indian consultancy firm Infosys,” a Sky News’ reporter said during the television interview.