Fintech unicorn BhartPe has filed a crook healthy in opposition to its former MD and co-founder Ashneer Grover and his own circle of relatives, searching for up to ₹ 88.67 crore in damages for alleged dishonest and embezzlement of finances.
The healthy, walking into 2,800 pages, alleges that Grover, his spouse Madhuri Jain and different own circle of relatives contributors created faux bills, enlisted fictitious providers to offer offerings to the enterprise, and overcharged the enterprise for recruitment.
The civil healthy and crook grievance got here up earlier than the Delhi High Court, which issued notices to the Grover own circle of relatives and requested them to reply inside weeks. The subsequent listening to date has been set for January 9.
It additionally issued summons to the alternative defendants, along with Grover’s brother-in-law, his father and his brother.
If observed guilty, they may face imprisonment for up to ten years.
“Pass a decree of everlasting injunction restraining the defendants (Grover and others) and/or all people on their behalf in any way by any means from making defamatory/derogatory statements regarding the plaintiff (BharatPe), its directors, personnel and/or publicising, printing the equal in any medium or shape by any means,” the healthy stated, whilst additionally searching for course to the defendants to reveal their assets.
During the listening to, senior propose Mukul Rohatgi, performing for BharatPe, contended that Grover, his spouse and different family had been sporting out a “vicious and vitriolic” marketing campaign in opposition to the enterprise which has a massive range of overseas investors.
The suggest for Grover and his spouse stated they had been now no longer served with a duplicate of the healthy.
A enterprise spokesperson stated, “BharatPe has initiated civil and crook motion in opposition to erstwhile co-founder and handling director Ashneer Grover, former Head of Controls Madhuri Jain Grover and different related events in their own circle of relatives for numerous claims, along with misappropriation of enterprise finances.” “We have complete religion withinside the courts and government and are assured that justice might be done. As the problem is sub-judice, we haven’t any in addition remark to provide at this stage,” the spokesperson stated.
The enterprise filed a crook grievance in opposition to Grover and his own circle of relatives with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on 17 counts, along with crook breach of trust, forgery, file fabrication, and embezzlement.
Jain changed into the top of controls at BharatPe and changed into fired in advance this yr after a forensic audit found out numerous irregularities. Subsequently, Ashneer Grover resigned as CEO in March.
In the civil healthy, the enterprise sought ₹ eighty three crore for misappropriation of finances and ₹ five crore for reputational harm due to Grover’s public statements.
The damages sought consist of a declare for fee made in opposition to the invoices of non-existent providers amounting to ₹ 71.7 crore; a declare for penalty paid to GST government amounting to ₹ 1.sixty six crore; bills made to providers purportedly supplying recruitment offerings totalling ₹ 7.6 crore; and ₹ five crore damages for lack of popularity to the enterprise due to tweets and different statements made via way of means of Grover and his own circle of relatives contributors.
The four-yr-vintage enterprise hit the headlines in advance this yr while Grover changed into accused of the usage of irrelevant language and perilous a Kotak Group worker for failing to steady an allotment and investment for the Nykaa IPO for himself and his spouse Madhuri Jain Grover.
Thereafter, BharatPe appointed Alvarez and Marsal, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, and PwC to behavior a company governance overview and decide whether or not Grover had devoted willful misconduct.
This brought about the ouster of Jain and Grover resigning from the enterprise and its board in March.
On May 10, BharatPe stated that when the designated overview, the enterprise had determined to take steps in opposition to personnel concerned in misconduct and claw lower back Ashneer Grover’s constrained shares.
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