Delhi Police files FIR against BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and family

The Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police registered a first information report (FIR) against BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover, his wife Madhuri and other family members for allegedly misappropriating the company's funds and causing a loss of ₹81.28 crore.

The FIR names Madhuri Jain Grover, BharatPe's former head of controls, as the key accused for using self-created 'fake' and 'forged invoices' for her personal enrichment. Her family members Shwetank Jain and Suresh Jain have also been named in the FIR.

Another family member Deepak Gupta, who used to head administration, logistics and fulfilment at BharatPe as its head of procurement, has been named in the 18-page police report.

Several 'irregularities' and 'illegalities' led to the present complaint against the accused persons, according to the FIR. These include illegitimate payments to the tune of ₹7.6 crore to bogus HR consultants on the basis of 86 false and forged invoices.

The FIR mentions inflated and undue payments through 'passthrough vendors' connected to the accused persons to the detriment of BharatPe.

There are also allegations of sham transactions and embezzlement of ₹71.76 crore against the accused. These include 'dishonest' and 'illegal payments' to travel agencies connected to accused persons on the basis of false and fabricated invoices for services already availed from genuine providers.

The FIR has been registered on eight counts of serious criminal offences including forgery, cheating, criminal breach of trust and destruction of evidence among others.

If convicted, Grover and Madhuri and others can face up to anything between 10 years and life imprisonment, says BharatPe, adding that the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing now has the power to arrest all the accused.

"We welcome the registration of an FIR by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police in the company's complaint in relation to the criminal offences by Mr. Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and other family members," the fintech firm says.

The FIR comes a year after Sequoia-backed BharatPe initiated 'necessary action' against its ousted co-founder Ashneer Grover to claw back his restricted shares as per the shareholders' agreement.

"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. This FIR will now enable the law enforcement agencies to investigate deeper into the criminality and bring the culprits to books. We have full faith in our country's judicial and law enforcement systems and are optimistic that this case will reach its logical conclusion. We will continue to extend all possible cooperation to the authorities," the fintech unicorn says.

Founded in 2018, BharatPe claims to have a network of 1 crore merchants across over 400 cities. In January, the fintech startup's chief executive Suhail Sameer stepped down from his role to become a strategic adviser.