An elaborate legal battle pitting Gameskraft against Arthmate, a SaaS-based lending enabler, has culminated in two unfortunate incidents: the arrest of its co-founder and former CEO, Vihaan Kumar; the high-level resignation of an executive; and complete employee exodus. An unfolding saga ensues in the scrum of scrutiny and aftermath that has befallen the company for its alleged financial misdealings and fraud activities.
PC: Entrakr
The roots of the storm go back to September 2022 when the CFO of Gameskraft, Ramesh Prabhu, filed a complaint against Vihaan Kumar with Gurugram Police, which registered FIR in March this year. As many as 15 months later, on June 10, 2024, police and EoW arrested Kumar, according to the court order accessed by Entrackr, which increased the storm at Arthmate.
Gameskraft is among the most profitable startups in India, having recorded massive profits of Rs 1,062 crore in FY23 over revenues of Rs 2,662 crore. In contrast, Arthmate, a digital lending company which serves fintechs and the SME sectors, reported revenue of Rs 132 crore and a profit of Rs 5.5 crore during the same fiscal year-a far cry from the impressive numbers raked in by Gameskraft.
The fallouts of Vihaan’s arrest sent shockwaves in Arthmate and saw mass employee resignation, including its COO, Renu Satti, who was till earlier the CEO of Paytm Payment Banks. While Satti continues to show her designation as the COO of Arthmate on her LinkedIn profile, sources close to the development confirmed to the intrepid ET Prime staff that she has quit the company amidst the crisis emerging from the arrest of its founder, underlining the internal chaos and void at the top management level in Arthmate.
In answer to the questions, an Arthmate spokesperson maintained that the company was a separate entity from Vihaan Kumar, saying that “The matter is sub judice and we cannot comment on it because of the ongoing legal case,” while a Gameskraft spokesperson said more or less the same thing: “The issue remains sub judice and we would rather not say anything in detail.”.
The core of the dispute is built upon complaints against Vihaan Kumar, by Gameskraft, for having committed financial misappropriation and siphoning of money under a deceitful layer. According to the court filings, Kumar at first had camouflaged his entry into Gameskraft on account of investment in the company but later managed to assume control of the board and operational powers, instituted restructuring processes, and exercised disproportionate influence over crucial decisions affecting the best interests of the company.
Vihaan’s role in bringing in unauthorized service providers and contractors to Gameskraft, causing losses estimated at roughly Rs 12.15 crore-including unpaid GST amounts and mismanaged services-were among the alleged offenses on this list. Offenses like criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy cropped up in the FIR filed by the Gurugram police and EoW, showing how serious the accusations were against Kumar.
In spite of the legal appeals and claims of illegal arrest, Vihaan Kumar is still languishing in jail, as on 30th August 2024, the Chandigarh High Court rejected all his pleas for relief, pending the court’s final verdict on bail. The irony is that the stability and the reputation of an organization hinge heavily on the action of one man. Arthmate is found struggling and gasping after the controversy, groping its way up to stand back in these testing times full of shafts and vicissitudes.
