BharatPe has sacked Madhuri Jain Grover, wife of company's co-founder Ashneer Grover
Fintech firm BharatPe has sacked Madhuri Jain Grover, the wife of its managing director Ashneer Grover, over alleged financial irregularities and cancelled the stock options she had. The move follows an external audit ordered by the BharatPe board.
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"We can confirm that services of Madhuri Jain Grover have been terminated in accordance with the terms of her employment agreement," the spokesperson of BharatPe said today, confirming the termination.
Madhuri Jain Grover allegedly used company funds for personal beauty treatments, buying electronic items and family trips to the US and Dubai. She also allegedly paid her personal staff out of company accounts and produced fake invoices, reported news agency Press Trust of India, quoting sources.
Ashneer Grover, who is also the co-founder of BharatPe and is on a three-month leave, has denied all allegations.
Madhur Jain Grover lashed out at the company's top officials with a series of videos. In the accompanying tweets, she accused them of "drunken orgies" and "snatching" the place "Ashneer Grover built single-handedly".
BharatPe, which allows shop owners to make digital payments through QR codes, came under intense investor scrutiny ahead of its Initial Public Offering or IPO, after Ashneer Grover sought damages from Uday Kotak, the head of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Mr Grover has alleged that the bank turned down his request for Rs 5 billion to invest in the IPO (Initial Public Offering) of online beauty products company Nykaa at the "eleventh hour".
The bank has claimed that Mr Grover used "foul" and threatening language towards its employees, reported news agency Reuters, quoting a legal document. An audio clip has also surfaced on social media with claims of Mr Grover abusing and threatening a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee. The bank has also cited "very high lending rates" among the reasons for refusing financing to Mr Grover, Reuters reported.
In a letter to employees, BharatPe chief executive Suhail Sameer said the firm has ordered an audit by reputed external firms (SAM, Alvarez and Marsal (A&M) and PwC), reported PTI. The audit is meant to assess if the senior executives of the company are making proper internal disclosures about personal investments and check for conflicts.
"There are a couple of more serious allegations, which the review is still substantiating… We expect the review partners (consultants) to share an interim report with the Board in a couple of weeks," read the internal mail, reported PTI.
BharatPe, which competes with apps such as SoftBank's Paytm and Google Pay in the country's booming payments market, is valued at roughly $3 billion and is hoping to file for IPO within 18 months, reported Reuters quoting sources. The company lists Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and others as "marquee investors".
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