Payments startup BharatPe, which has been witnessing a tussle between promoters and buyers, on Tuesday mentioned it has determined to claw again former founder Ashneer Grover’s restricted shares within the firm. It has additionally terminated a number of staff and distributors in addition to filed prison instances towards them for misconduct.
“If required, the company will be filing criminal cases against some of these employees for misconduct and act of cheating committed by them against the company,” BharatPe mentioned in a press release.
“Many vendors involved in malpractices, such as incorrect or inflated invoices, have been blocked from further business with the company… the company has already issued legal notices to these vendors to recover the amount and will be filing civil or criminal cases against them in the coming days,” it mentioned. Further, BharatPe mentioned it was introducing a brand new vendor procurement coverage to mitigate any threat of staff indulging in suspicious transactions to personally profit from them.
These developments come after the conclusion of a two-month lengthy company governance overview carried out by Alvarez & Marsal, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and PwC. Without naming Grover, the corporate mentioned vital motion has been initiated “against the former founder to claw back his restricted shares as per the shareholders’ agreement. It will take all steps to enforce its right under the law”.
Grover presently holds roughly 8.5 per cent in BharatPe, of which 1.4 per cent isn’t vested. Earlier within the 12 months, BharatPe had alleged embezzlement of funds by Grover and his spouse, Madhuri Jain Grover, who was the top of controls on the Sequoia Capital-backed startup.