New Delhi, July 25 :    New Delhi, July 25:  The Modis, who have been lying low since Xerox Corp of the US alleged that bribes had been paid to win government contracts when the Indian partner managed affairs at the digital imaging company, have forced the Xerox ModiCorp board to appoint Ernst & Young as internal auditors to trawl the company's books and determine the truth about the allegations. The Modis have been particularly upset over a PricewaterhouseCoopers report that said 'improper payments' had been made to four fictitious companies when the Modis ran the company. This raised questions about whether the bribes had been paid at all. The appointment of Ernst & Young will allow for an independent examination of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report. E&Y is the statutory auditor of SpiceCorp. Xerox Corp's admission about the bribes was made in late June to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US market regulator, as part of a filing relating to accounting shenanigans there. SpiceCorp believes that in order to correctly ascertain the facts relating to the alleged 'improper payments' it is important that the audit be conducted immediately. In a statement issued today, SpiceCorp said it was concerned about the allegations made against the SpiceCorp nominees on the XMC board. It said that to get to the truth behind the aspersions, SpiceCorp had also asked the internal auditor to look into XMC's records and transactions and ascertain who was responsible for making and authorising payments to the government officials. 'We wish to arrive at the truth and are committed to fully co-operate with the government. In the national interest, I hope that the investigation is completed at the earliest and persons responsible for the current situation are brought to task immediately so that SpiceCorp's image remains untainted,' said SpiceCorp chairperson Veena Modi. 'After coming to know the findings of the PwC report, SpiceCorp is keen to find out who is involved in these alleged payments,' the statement from SpiceCorp said. A SpiceCorp spokesperson said Ernst & Young was appointed to examine the PwC's report in which there is a reference to improper payments made by XMC to the tune of $ 70,0000 in the year 2000 alone. The PwC report is a comprehensive one relating to Xerox Corporation, including the Indian operations. Xerox Corp is a 68 per cent shareholder in Xerox ModiCorp and claims to have put a stop to the bribe-giving culture at the local subsidiary soon after it took charge in August 2000. Peer review of an auditor's report is rare and occurs when there are serious differences and lack of trust between the two partners in a joint venture. 'If there is a doubt about the job of a previous auditor, then in special circumstances another auditor can be brought in to look into the accuracy of report filed by the previous auditor. It is certainly not a normal practice,' said N. D. Gupta, past president and council member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants Of India (ICAI) and a practising accountant. SpiceCorp, which till 2002 was known as ModiCorp, has an 18 per cent stake in Xerox ModiCorp. Other associate companies of the Modis have a 7 per cent stake in XMC. The public holds about 7 per cent. SpiceCorp is involved in various businesses covering the full range of telecommunications, the internet, and IT. 'The board and company is completely independent of the other Modi group companies in terms of management, investments and shareholding,' according to Preeti Malhotra, company secretary of SpiceCorp.