BENGALURU: After about 2.9 years, fintech firm BharatPe and its former co-founder Ashneer Grover have reached a settlement and the latter will no longer be associated with the firm.
BharatPe in an official statement said the firm has arrived at a definitive agreement with its former co-founder Ashneer Grover.
"As part of the settlement, Mr Grover will not be associated with BharatPe in any capacity nor be a part of the shareholding of the company. Certain shares of Mr Grover shall be transferred to the Resilient Growth Trust for the benefit of the company and his remaining shares will be managed by his family trust," it said.
Both parties have decided not to pursue the cases filed. Grover was holding about 8 per cent stake and this means it will be transferred to the family trust.
Grover soon posted on X that he had reached a decisive settlement with BharatPe. "I repose my faith in the management and board, who are doing great work in taking BharatPe forward in the right direction. I continue to remain aligned with the company's growth and success. I will no longer be associated with BharatPe in any capacity, nor be part of the capital table. My remaining shares will be managed by my Family Trust. Both parties have decided not to pursue the cases filed. I hope BharatPe continues to grow and succeed for the benefit of all its stakeholders," he said on X.
Interestingly, this settlement has come just 10 days after the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police arrested a family member of Grover --Deepak Gupta -- in the case of alleged misappropriation of BharatPe's funds.
Last month, the EOW arrested a key vendor Amit Bansal. In May last year, the EOW registered an FIR under eight sections against Grover, his wife and family members. The FIR was for allegedly defrauding the company of Rs 81.28 crore. The accusations against Grover and his family members also include illegitimate payments to the tune of Rs 7.6 crore to bogus HR consultants based on 86 false and forged invoices and inflated, undue payments through passthrough vendors connected to the accused persons to the detriment of the complainant company.
Earlier in January 2023, BharatPe had filed a civil suit and a criminal complaint against Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain, and other family members for misappropriation of company funds.
The company also filed a criminal complaint with the EOW on 17 counts, including cheating, siphoning, criminal breach of trust and embezzlement of funds, against Grover and family.
In March 2022, Grover resigned from BharatPe and his wife Madhuri Jain, was terminated from the firm.
The battle between Grover and BharatPe began after an audio clip, allegedly of Grover abusing and threatening a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee for missing out on Nykaa's IPO went viral on social media.