Former BharatPe CEO Ashneer Grover has responded to allegations of fake invoices and unexplained payments by hitting out at the company, investors Sequoia Capital, and critics on social media. The Economic Offences Wing’s investigation revealed that Grover, his wife, and her family members used backdated invoices to transfer funds from BharatPe’s accounts. It is alleged that Rs 7.6 crore was paid to fake HR consultancies, Rs 1.66 crore as a penalty to GST authorities, and Rs 71.76 crore was siphoned off through fictitious transactions. The total amount could be over Rs 81 crore, and the investigation is ongoing.
In response, Grover defiantly declared that he would be the “last man standing” after BharatPe, Sequoia, journalists, and “Twitter judges” are gone. He also took a swipe at Sequoia for wrapping up its operations in India. Grover made these remarks in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Grover also highlighted that the FIR against BharatPe is being heard in the High Court, and the company has not received any relief in multiple civil cases filed against him. He emphasized that the company’s auditors, Deloitte, have reported no fraud in their annual reports, and the financials are true and fair. Grover further mentioned that the investigation is still in its initial stages, and the IT department has found no tax-related issues with his funds.
Regarding the BharatPe board, Grover claimed that Madhuri Jain, the former head of controls, was the only “related party,” and all transactions had been approved by the board. He stated that board chairman Rajnish Kumar had signed off on the transactions, while he himself had abstained from that board meeting.
Madhuri Jain was fired from BharatPe in 2022 following a forensic audit that uncovered irregularities. Grover, who gained fame as one of the “sharks” on Shark Tank India, resigned as CEO in March 2022. He now runs a fantasy sports app called CrickPe.
The investigation into the alleged fake invoices and unexplained payments is ongoing, and further developments are awaited.
