A day after its co-founder Ashneer Grover abruptly resigned and?accused investors of having "vilified" him, BharatPe has finally come out today with an official statement.
The fintech firm said that it has found that cofounder Ashneer Grover and his family members had engaged in extensive "misappropriation of funds" as part of the findings of an investigation that was underway since January. The company said in a prepared statement that it now reserves the right to "take further legal action against him and his family."
Grover and his family members have engaged in extensive misappropriation of funds and siphoned money away from the company¡¯s accounts, the company statement said.?
Here's the tweet containing the official statement by BharatPe.
In a strongly-worded statement, BharatPe said, ¡° The company has taken strong objection to Grover spinning lies and hurling baseless allegations and threats. 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 account and grossly abused company expense accounts in order to enrich themselves and fund their lavish lifestyles."?
Grover is no longer an employee, founder or director of the company, the statement further added.
BharatPe¡¯s board had met on Tuesday evening as the findings of the PwC probe were tabled, multiple people aware of the discussion, confirmed to ET.?
¡°The board members aren¡¯t obviously okay with the allegations Grover has hurled at the company in public¡ They will be looking to take appropriate steps now since the issue has gotten out of hand,¡± said one of the people aware of the discussion.
¡° There is enough evidence that money has been "siphoned off" from the company which links him and his family members to the act,¡± said a second person, who was directly aware of the discussions, and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Also Read:?Shark Tank Memes Take Over The Internet After Ashneer Grover Steps Down As MD Of BharatPe
Hours after Ashneer Grover's resignation letter was sent to board members, BharatPe had said in a statement that it was preempting the probe findings which were to be discussed in a meeting Tuesday¡°, as per ET.
And minutes after Ashneer Grover received notice that some of the results of the inquiry would be presented to the board, he quickly mailed his resignation and fabricated another false narrative of the events to the public,¡± said BharatPe in its statement today.
In an interaction with ET yesterday, Ashneer Grover had said that he has been preparing his resignation letter for the past three days.?
¡°I was clear that I would send it on Monday night. The BharatPe board is preempting what I¡¯m doing, not the other way around. The board agenda came in at 11:54 pm last night so what preempted the board to hold a meeting at such a short notice... The board meeting is at 7:30 pm today,¡± Grover said when asked whether he was preempting board action post the probe results were tabled, as per ET.
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