BT discovered that the employee contract undersigned also included a provision for the company to reclaim the dismissed employee’s equity.
One individual familiar with the situation revealed to BusinessToday that BharatPe had terminated the services of Madhuri Jain Grover, head of controls, due to financial irregularities and money syphoning. On January 20, In. Jain was placed on administrative leave.
Jain has stated that she has not resigned and has written a letter to the BharatPe board of directors querying how the preliminary conclusions of the ongoing corporate governance inquiry were made public. BT discovered that the employee contract undersigned also included a provision for the company to reclaim the dismissed employee’s equity.
According to sources, her husband, BharatPe co-founder and MD Ashneer Grover, may just be a shareholder in the company. “In addition, the shareholding agreement between Grover and BharatPe provides an arbitration/settlement as and when a dispute arises,” a top firm executive noted. “However, his Rs 4,000 crore demand to depart the company is far-fetched.”
According to sources, the board members are also concerned about Grover’s leadership’s acquisition of the brand loyalty platform Payback, a reported $30 million deal last year, due to a conflict of interest and overvaluation, as well as the firm’s expenses over the last several years.
“I have been handled in the most disrespectful manner by the board,” Jain wrote in a previous letter to the BhratPe’s board. If this is how the company treats its female employees, I have no desire to continue to be involved with it in any fashion. I would have quit voluntarily if it hadn’t been for the fact that the integrity of not only myself but also my family members had been mercilessly assailed in the midst of what appears to be a shareholder’s dispute. The current governance review is a roving investigation that is destroying my character.”
Grover has filed a petition with the Singapore International Arbitration Council (SIAC) seeking indemnification from any legal responsibilities and expressing his desire to reach a settlement. On February 20, the first hearing was place.
The governance review report will be presented to the BharatPe board of directors next week. Inconsistencies with recruitment and fake invoicing involving Madhuri Jain and her brother Shwetank Jain were discovered in a preliminary study by the risk advisory firm Alvarez and Marsal, which was hired by BharatPe. Meanwhile, Jain claims that the current corporate governance review is prejudicial, premeditated, and biased. Meanwhile, emails and phone calls to BharatPe, Ashneer Grover, and his wife Madhuri Jain went unanswered.
