New Delhi: Months after it had been reported that the Narendra Modi government was looking for surveillance spyware from companies ‘less exposed’ than Israel’s NSO Group which sells Pegasus, it has been reported that one of the substitute companies has its offices in India.In March, Financial Times had reported that the Modi government was concerned by a Pegasus-led ‘PR problem’ and yet looking to spend up to Rs 986 crores on new spyware.Pegasus is a military-grade spyware which can surveil targets with the help of their phones. In 2021, The Wire, along with an international consortium of news outlets led by French media non-profit Forbidden Stories, broke the story on how journalists’, opposition leaders’, government critics’ and activists’ phone numbers were on a list of presumed Pegasus targets.The FT report had noted that a company purportedly on India’s list is Cognyte, which was spun out of the publicly traded Verint. Verint or Cognyte had had its stock dumped by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund after an investigation by Meta found widespread abuse.Indian Express, as part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has reported today, on the basis of 3.6 million leaked documents from six Cyprus-based offshore service providers, that four subsidiary companies of Cognyte/Verint – out of the 69 worldwide – are in India.The report notes that the four Indian subsidiaries are Verint CES India Private Limited, Verint Cyber Intelligence Solutions India Private Limited, Verint Systems (India) Private Ltd, and Witness Systems Software (India) Private Limited.“Following the 2021 “spin-off of Cognyte globally, Cognyte Analytics India became part of the company’s presence in India,” the report further adds.One of the firms, Cognyte Analytics India Private Limited, is listed as operating out of Bhikaji Cama Place. This is the office of its chartered accountants.The company’s representatives told Express that Cognyte was no longer a part of Verint CES India Private Limited, which is in Aerocity and has a 50-strong staff.Express‘s scrutiny of the balance sheets of these Indian subsidiaries showed that a “substantial share of their revenue” comes from Cognyte/Verint’s foreign subsidiaries in Israel and Hong Kong.“For instance, during the year ended March 2021, Verint CES India Pvt Ltd posted a total revenue of Rs 128.21 crore and had a net profit of Rs 8.05 crore. In the same year, revenue from services rendered by it to Verint Americas Inc, USA — its holding company and thus a related party— amounted to Rs 60.61 crore, just under half of its total revenue for the year.”Noteworthy is the fact that Verint CES India also had financial transactions with a subsidiary in Israel, called Cognyte Technologies Israel Limited. It purchased goods worth Rs 21.84 crore and tangible assets worth Rs 15.96 lakh from the Israel division. For offering services to the company, it earned Rs 3.32 crore.Verint CES India earned revenues of Rs 2.02 crore from a Hong Kong subsidiary, Verint Systems (Asia Pacific) Ltd, HK for service export, the report said.In addition to details on year-ending finances, the report notes that Verint Systems (India) Private Limited had several run-ins with the Income Tax Department in India:Balance sheets show that it has penalty proceedings in progress with Rs 32 lakh due for the year 2010-11. The most recent “disputed” amount is for the year 2017-18, for alleged “disallowance of expenses” totalling Rs 4.8 crore.The report is a deep dive into the company’s finances and its changing name trails. It can be read here.