BharatPe, a fintech platform, removed Ashneer Grover‘s profile and photo from its website on Thursday after accusing him and his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, of allegedly engaging in massive misuse of company finances and excessively abusing company money to fund their lavish lifestyles.
Suhail Sameer, Chief Executive Officer, Nishit Sharma, Chief Revenue Officer, Shashvat Nakrani, Co-Founder, Bhavik Koladiya, another Co-Founder, are now featured on the website’s About Us page, along with other key executives.
Grover’s LinkedIn page, however, still portrays him as a co-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe. In addition to BharatPe, Unity Small Finance Bank, a joint venture (JV) between BharatPe and the Centrum Group, has removed his profile from its portal. Grover officially resigned from BharatPe on Tuesday after serious allegations of financial irregularities were lodged against him. His resignation came a day after the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) rejected his request to halt a board probe.
The company in a statement on Wednesday stated that it reserves the right to pursue further legal action against him and his family. “As a result of his misdeeds, Mr. (Ashneer) Grover is no longer an employee, founder, or director of the company,” it added.
Grover responded to the company’s Board of Directors, saying he is “appalled at the personal character of the BharatPe Board’s remark, but not surprised.” He stated in a LinkedIn post that “it comes from a position of personal animosity and low thinking.” In a scathing letter to the board that he is being unfairly targeted by select individuals and has been “vilified and treated in the most disgraceful manner.”
Grover criticized the Board in his statement, claiming that it “can return to work as soon as possible As a shareholder, I am concerned about the loss of value. I wish the company and its board of directors a swift recovery. Please get back to your regular day jobs.” BharatPe had already fired his wife, Madhuri Jain, amid claims of financial mismanagement during her term as head of controls at the company.
It was previously reported that the BharatPe board had made its decision to terminate Grover’s services, particularly in light of the serious charges of funds misappropriation, including GST evasion, which resulted in BharatPe paying over Rs 11 crore after the raids were carried out by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) at the company’s head office and issued a legal notice to the company’s authorized representative to appear before the authority on November 1, 2021.
