BharatPe Co-founder And Wife Stopped At Airport Over Alleged Misappropriation Of Funds

BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain were stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday based on a look out circular (LoC) issued against them.

They were traveling to New York when the LoC was opened at the request of the Economic Offence Wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police.

The EoW had previously registered an FIR against the couple and other family members in June for alleged misappropriation of funds and causing losses worth Rs 81 crore to Resilient Innovations Private Limited, the company behind BharatPe.

A Letter of Circulation (LoC) is a circular letter used by authorities to determine if a person who is traveling is wanted by law enforcement agencies. If an LoC is issued against someone, they are not allowed to leave the country.

The couple mentioned in the previous paragraph could not be reached for comment at the time. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) recently reported to the Delhi High Court that there were discrepancies in vendor invoices related to BharatPe, a fintech unicorn.

The EOW also stated that certain human resource (HR) consultancies associated with BharatPe were established with the intention of diverting funds.

During the initial stages of the investigation, it was discovered that the eight HR consultancies were connected to relatives of Madhuri Jain, the former head of controls at the fintech company and wife of cofounder Ashneer Grover, according to the EOW.

According to sources, the couple has been requested to attend a probe by the EOW next week. Zulfiquar Memon of MZM Legal, representing Bharat Pe, stated that the EOW's recent status report filed in the Delhi HC revealed evidence of embezzlement, making it suitable for the EOW to issue a LOC against the accused.