New Delhi: Amid the hullabaloo over Ashneer and Madhuri Jain Grover and their tussle with BharatPe, it has been revealed that the admin head at the fintech firm was Madhuri’s close relative. He was allegedly involved in the misappropriation of funds and was also sacked. Deepak Jagdishram Gupta is Madhuri’s brother-in-law and worked as admin head. He reported to ‘Head of Controls’ Madhuri, who, in turn, reported directly to Co-founder and MD Ashneer Grover. They were allegedly involved in siphoning of funds via creating bogus vouchers and inflated vendor bills.
According to media reports, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) had conducted a search operation at BharatPe’s head office October 21, 2021. Gupta had told the GST team that the vendors on whom details are sought ‘do not exist’.
A total expenditure of Rs 53.25 crore was made towards at least 30 vendors that did not exist. BharatPe had incurred a loss of Rs 10.97 crore in those dealings.
According to media reports, Madhuri herself received invoices for payments and forwarded them to the accounts team. These invoices were created by Shwetank Jain, who is her brother.
According to BharatPe, Ashneer, his wife and their relatives were engaged in extensive misappropriation of funds. They grossly abused company money ‘to fund their lavish lifestyles’.
Also read: BharatPe sacks Shark Tank judge Ashneer Grover’s wife over ‘misappropriation of funds’
“The Grover family and their relatives engaged in extensive misappropriation of company funds, including, but not limited to, creating fake vendors through which they siphoned money away from the company’s expense account and grossly abused company expense accounts in order to enrich themselves and fund their lavish lifestyles,” BharatPe had said in an earlier statement.
BharatPe had earlier sacked Madhuri over allegations of financial irregularities during her tenure at the company as Head of Controls. On the other hand, Ashneer decided to quit right before the crucial board meeting to grill him over misappropriation of funds.
According to sources, the Grovers allegedly spent company money on expensive business class tickets for the entire family for vacationing abroad, beauty/skin treatments, buying electronic items, providing house staff salaries (driver/maids), 5-star dinners, etc.
The Grovers have also bought another property worth Rs 30-35 crore in an upscale condominium in Gurugram, said sources. Ashneer and his family live in Panchsheel Park, a posh locality in south Delhi. His huge 18,000 square foot mansion is reported to be worth at least Rs 25-30 crore.
“As a result of his misdeeds, (Ashneer) Grover is no longer an employee, a founder, or a director of the company,” the company had said.