BharatPe Has Settled With Ashneer Grover, Who Will No Longer Be Involved in Any Operations

Nitin Konde, Apoorva Bajj

Oct 1, 2024 — 3 min read

BharatPe Has Settled With Ashneer Grover, Who Will No Longer Be Involved in Any Operations

After years of bitter court fights and public arguments, fintech company BharatPe has achieved a settlement with its erstwhile co-founder Ashneer Grover. A BharatPe spokeswoman stated in a statement that Grover will not be connected to the company in any way or have any ownership stake as part of the deal negotiated. Additionally, Grover's family trust will be in charge of his remaining shares, with some being transferred to the Resilient Growth Trust for the benefit of the business. Each party has made the decision not to press the filed cases.

In order to avoid being placed on the company's cap table, a media report stated that he would be giving 1.4% of his ownership to the BharatPe board and 3.5–3.7% to a family trust. Bhavik Koladiya, a co-founder of BharatPe, will also receive his shares back from him. Koladiya accused Grover in January 2023 of receiving 1,611 shares of BharatPe (now 16,110 shares) for INR 88 lakh, but he never received payment for them. Grover was prohibited from selling these shares once the matter was brought before the court.

Declarations by Both Parties on Public Domain

Best wishes to Mr. Grover. Published on September 30, 2024, the BharatPe statement reaffirmed the company's commitment to offering its merchants and customers industry-leading solutions that promote growth and profitability.

Grover tweeted on X, "I have reached an important resolution with BharatPe," in response to this event. I put all my trust in the board and management, who are doing a fantastic job leading BharatPe in the correct direction. I still support the expansion and prosperity of the business. I shall no longer be a part of the capital table or affiliated in any way with BharatPe. My Family Trust will be in charge of my remaining shares. Each party has decided not to pursue the filed cases. I hope that BharatPe continues to expand and prosper for the benefit of everyone involved.

Unfolding the Recent Developments

The Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) detained Deepak Gupta, a relative of Ashneer Grover, the co-founder and former managing director of BharatPe, a few days ago on suspicion of stealing money from the fintech unicorn.

The sister of Madhuri Grover is married to Deepak Gupta. Ashneer Grover's wife, Madhuri Grover, was let off from her position as Head of Controls at BharatPe. On September 19, Gupta was taken into custody and scheduled to appear before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

In December 2022, BharatPe lodged a criminal case against five individuals: Ashneer Grover, Madhuri Grover, Shwetank Jain (Madhuri's brother), Suresh Jain (Ashneer's father-in-law), and Deepak Gupta (Ashneer and Madhuri's brother-in-law).

In May 2023, the EOW filed a formal complaint in the INR 81-crore fraud case against Ashneer Grover, the co-founder of BharatPe, his wife Madhuri Jain, and their family members Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain.

Amit Kumar Bansal was apprehended by the EOW last month after it was alleged that he was one of the members of the non-existent entities that had received payments of INR 72 crore from the former directors of BharatPe between 2019 and 2021.

Grover and his family have been charged by BharatPe with causing losses to the company of approximately INR 81.3 crore through payments made to fake HR consultants, payments made to pass-through vendors who are connected to the accused, fraudulent input-tax credit transactions, non-compliant payments to travel agencies, invoices that were falsified by Jain, and evidence destruction.

Part Two of Ashneer’s Innings

With an app called ZeroPe for medical loans, Grover—who rose to fame after appearing on the Indian version of Shark Tank—is gearing up for his second venture into the financial space. Grover formed Third Unicorn following his departure from BharatPe, and in 2023 it introduced CrickPe, a fantasy game platform.