EOW registers FIR against Ashneer Grover, Madhuri Jain and family
The Economic Crimes Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR against former Bharatpe Managing Director Ashner Grover, his wife and Bharatpe Head of Controls Madhuri (Jain) Grover along with three other family members.
Other defendants in the FIR include Dipak Gupta, the former head of procurement in Bharatpe and Ashner’s brother, Madhuri’s brother Chwetanak Jain and Father Suresh Jain. The FIR is listed on eight counts of identifiable serious criminal offenses, and if convicted, Grover, Madre, and others could face anything from ten years to life in prison. The EOW now has the authority to arrest all of the accused.
Charges made by BharatPe include ₹7.6 crore illegal payments to fake HR consultants (related to the defendants) On the basis of eighty-six (86) fraudulent and fraudulent invoices, inflated and undue payments through cross-vendors associated with the defendants on Bharatby’s account.
Moreover, the The fintech company has also charged the former managing director and head of sham transaction controls and embezzlement of INR 71.76 crore, dishonest and illegal payments to travel agencies on the basis of false and fabricated invoices for services actually availed from genuine service providers, destruction of evidence and personal enrichment through reimbursements by Madhuri Jain Grover using false and forged invoices.
The FIR is counted on eight counts of identifiable serious criminal offenses under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 408 (criminal breach of trust by a clerk or employee), and 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public official, or by a banker, merchant or agent), 420 (fraud and dishonest solicitation of delivery of property), 467 (forgery of a valuable guarantee, will, etc.), 468 (forgery with intent to defraud), 471 (using a forged document or genuine electronic record) ) and 20b (criminal conspiracy penalty).
Bharatby’s reaction
Commenting on the development, a spokesperson for BharatPe said, “We welcome the filing of an FIR report by the Economic Crimes Wing of Delhi Police in the company’s complaint in relation to the criminal offenses committed by Mr Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and other family members. Over the past 15 months, the company has been facing an aggressive campaign and malicious action directed by Grover against the company, its board of directors, and its employees,”
“The filing of the FIR is a step in the right direction as it reveals many shady transactions undertaken by the family for personal financial gain. This FIR will now enable law enforcement agencies to investigate deeper into criminality and bring the perpetrators to the books. We have full confidence “We are optimistic that this case will come to its logical conclusion. We will continue to provide all possible cooperation to the authorities. MZM Legal advises us (Bharatby) on the criminal case.”
Letters sent to Ashner Grover by business line remain unanswered as of press time.
criminal case
BharatPe also filed a criminal case against Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and three other family members, claiming ₹88.6 crores in damages. The company claimed financial loss of Rs.83 crore due to misappropriation of funds by Grover and his family and sought another Rs.5 crore for loss and injury to the brand and applicable taxes.
Earlier this year, BharatPe co-founders Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya sued Ashneer Grover, over an equity dispute in separate lawsuits. In February 2022, Madre Jane is fired from her position after the company discovers financial irregularities. Later in March, Ashneer Grover also left the company after months of squabbling with the board of directors. In the aftermath, the company removed him as co-founder and general manager, alleging misappropriation of funds.
Since then, Grover has started a new file The fictional cricket company is called CrickPe (The Third Unicorn Private Limited Company). The app seeks to reward cricketers out of the total amount of money for the game along with the players. On launching the app in March 2023, Grover said, “cricketers get paid for performance, not ads. 10 percent of the pot divided by the percentage of points earned by each of the 22 players. Each match.” Grover reportedly raised $4 million in seed funding for his new venture and promised employees a Mercedes-Benz if they initially worked for 5 years.