 "Ashneer Grover")
Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has lodged a first information report (FIR) against Ashneer Grover, former managing director of BharatPe, his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, and other members of the family on BharatPe’s complaint. The New Delhi-based fintech giant has accused Grover and his family of defrauding it to the tune of Rs 81.28 crore. EOW now has the power to arrest all the accused.
If found guilty, Grover and his family can face up to 10 years of imprisonment.
The other members of Grover’s family against whom the EOW has registered an FIR include Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain.
The FIR has been registered on eight counts of serious cognisable criminal offences. These are related to breach of trust, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, forgery of valuable security, forged documents or electronic record and criminal conspiracy. The FIR read that these have caused a loss of approximately Rs 81.28 crore to BharatPe.
Some of the sections under which the FIR (reviewed by Business Standard) has been registered include 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
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In a statement after the FIR, BharatPe said: “We welcome the registration of an FIR by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police on the company’s complaint in relation to the criminal offences by Mr Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and other family members… For the last 15 months, the company has been facing a vicious and malicious campaign run by Grover against the company, the board and its employees. The registration of the FIR is a step in the right direction, which unearths various suspicious transactions made by the family for their personal pecuniary gains.”
The statement added, “This FIR will now enable the law enforcement agencies to investigate deeper into the criminality and bring the culprits to books… MZM legal is advising us (BharatPe) on the criminal case.”
Accusations against the parties allegedly involved include illegitimate payments to the tune of Rs 7.6 crores to bogus HR consultants (having nexus with the accused) on the basis of 86 false and forged invoices; and inflated and undue payments through passthrough vendors connected to the accused to the detriment of the company.
The FIR alleged Input Tax Credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities (to the tune of Rs 1.66 crore) and sham transactions and embezzlement of Rs 71.76 crore. It alleged dishonest and illegal payments to travel agencies connected to the accused on the basis of false and fabricated invoices for services already availed of from genuine providers.
The other accusations include personal enrichment through reimbursements by Madhuri Jain using self-created fake and forged invoices and destruction of evidence.
Grover is involved in a legal battle with BharatPe related to allegations about financial irregularities that emerged in January 2022. In March last year, Grover resigned as BharatPe’s managing director and board director.
In his resignation letter in March 2022, Grover wrote: “I write this with a heavy heart as today I am being forced to bid adieu to a company of which I am a founder. I say with my head held high that today this company stands as a leader in the fintech world. Since the beginning of 2022, unfortunately, I’ve been embroiled in baseless and targeted attacks on me and my family by a few individuals who are ready not only to harm me and my reputation but also harm the reputation of the company, which ostensibly they are trying to protect.”
Grover has been the subject of five lawsuits in the past six months. In December 2022, BharatPe initiated criminal and civil proceedings against him, his wife and their relatives over huge misappropriation of company funds. The company reportedly asked them to repay company funds to the tune of Rs 88.6 crore with 18 per cent interest, which it alleged they had swindled via various modes like creating fictitious bills, inflated vendor payments and personal use, among others. A criminal case was with the EOW. The same month, BharatPe filed a case of fraud against Grover and his family in the Delhi High Court for allegedly siphoning off Rs 88.6 crore.
In March this year, BharatPe co-founder Shashvat Nakrani reportedly filed a lawsuit at the Delhi High Court against Ashneer Grover over ‘unpaid shares.’ Before that, in January, BharatPe’s main co-founder, Bhavik Koladiay, had sued Grover to reclaim his shares in Resilient Innovations, the parent entity that operates BharatPe.
