BENGALURU: A day after Ashneer Grover wrote a detailed mail on his resignation, and how he has been vilified by investors, BharatPe on Wednesday lashed out at him for “spinning lies and hurling baseless allegations and threats.”
In a statement, the fintech company accused the Grover family and their relatives of 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,” BharatPe said.
It said the company reserves all rights to take further legal action against him and his family. “The Board will not allow the deplorable conduct of the Grover family to tarnish BharatPe’s reputation or that of its hard-working employees and world-class technology. As a result of his misdeeds, Mr. Grover is no longer an employee, a founder, or a director of the company,” it said.
The Board is taking all necessary steps to further strengthen the company’s corporate governance, including the appointment of an audit committee, an internal auditor, and the implementation of other key internal controls.
When asked about these accusations, Grover said he was appalled at the personal nature of the company’s statement, but not surprised.
“It comes from a position of personal hatred and low thinking. I think the Board needs to be reminded of $1M of secondary shares investors bought from me in Series C, $2.5M in Series D and $8.5 M in Series E,” he said.
Grover added that he wanted to learn who among Amarchand, PWC and A&M has started doing an audit on the ‘lavishness’ of one’s lifestyle.
He said the only thing lavish about him is dreams and ability to achieve them against all odds through hard work and enterprise.
“I hope the Board can get back to working soon. I as a shareholder am worried about the value destruction. I wish the company and the Board a speedy recovery,” he said.
Earlier, the Board of BharatPe directed a thorough review of the company’s internal controls. This extensive review is being led by independent external advisors.
It is expected that the report will be out soon.
Meanwhile, Grover's wife Madhuri Jain, who was sacked from BharatPe, deleted a series of tweets and multiple videos that she posted criticising the company.