Byju’s Director Riju Raveendran ‘not truthful’ on missing $533 mn: US judge

By Steven Church

 

A director of Indian tech firm Think & Learn Pvt faces financial penalties for defying a US judge’s order to find out where the troubled company stashed $533 million that jilted lenders say should go to them.

 

Riju Ravindran, the brother of company founder Byju Raveendran, not only failed to make a serious effort to find out what happened to the cash, but deceived the court, US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey said during a hearing Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware.

“I conclude Mr. Ravindran’s testimony is not truthful,” Dorsey said. Ravindran either knows where the money is being hidden and won’t say, or he refused to find out, Dorsey said. 

The decision was a symbolic victory for lenders, represented by their agent, Glas Trust, and likely puts only limited pressure on Ravindran to cooperate in order to avoid financial penalties. Dorsey said he would hold a hearing to decide how much Ravindran must pay in fines and whether the businessman has any assets subject to court jurisdiction.

Ravindran, his brother and his sister-in-law are the only directors of Think & Learn, which operates under the name Byju’s, according to court testimony. Dorsey has repeatedly expressed frustration over the company’s refusal to say where the money is being held. Earlier this year the judge ordered the arrest of a hedge fund manager who helped Ravindran move the cash. That manager refused a court order to reveal what happened to the money, Dorsey found. 

Dorsey declined to issue an arrest warrant for the Ravindran, who is an Indian citizen currently living in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US. 

A representative for Think & Learn did not immediately respond to a request for comment. During the hearing, Ravindran’s attorney, Sheron Korpus argued that his client did everything he could to find the money, but that his brother, Byju Raveendran and Byju’s wife claimed they didn’t know. 

“Everybody has their own family dynamic,” Korpus told the judge.

The missing money is at the heart of a fight between lenders owed more than $1.2 billion and Think & Learn. The two sides are battling in courts in Delaware and New York. Lenders had previously seized control of a holding company set up by Think & Learn to issue $1.2 billion in debt. That unit, Byju’s Alpha, is now in bankruptcy under Dorsey’s oversight. Ravindran is appealing a decision by Delaware’s Chancery Court approving that seizure.

The US bankruptcy case is BYJU’s Alpha Inc., 24-10140, US Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware (Wilmington).

First Published: May 22 2024 | 6:59 AM IST