new Delhi: After reports emerged that government regulators may expand their probe into BharatPe’s financial books following the Ashneer-Madhuri Grover saga that shook the start-up ecosystem, sources close to the developments said on Thursday that the fintech The platform has not received any government notice till date and will fully comply with the law of the land, if required.
BharatPe has already conducted a thorough internal review of financial irregularities at the firm during Ashneer-Madhuri’s tenure through Alvarez & Marsal, a leading management advisory and risk advisory firm, and global audit firm PwC.
The company sacked Madhuri Jain after misappropriation of funds during her tenure as the controlling head of the investigation, while Ashneer left because BharatPe accused him, his wife and their relatives of indulging in widespread misappropriation of company funds. and alleged misappropriation of company funds. lavish lifestyle.
Reliable sources told IANS that the company is ready to join any preliminary inquiry by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure that they have all the necessary information.
The company “highly respects and abides by the law of the land and will fully cooperate with the authorities concerned”, if necessary, the sources said.
Reports also emerged that Goods and Services Tax (GST) officials have expanded their probe into the company, trying to find out whether co-founder Ashneer’s tenure as managing director in the past four years Fake invoices were used.
Sources told IANS that the GST probe, which began in October last year, is on.
The GST investigation team is currently scanning the books of accounts of BharatPe, which was set up in April 2018, and is expected to submit its report in two weeks’ time.
The latest development comes after a fresh controversy over the fintech company’s original founder Bhavik Koladia and his stake in the firm.
According to sources, Koladia, who was convicted in a credit card fraud case in the US in 2015, is believed to have split his stake between Ashneer and another co-founder, Shashwat Nakrani.
As of about 2018, Colladia held more than 30 percent stake in the company, but this was diluted as the fintech company received more funding.
His stake in Bharatpe was divided between Ashneer and Nakrani. Ashneer holds 8.5 per cent in the company, while Colladia will hold around 4 per cent of this figure. A similar agreement was signed between Koladia and Nakarani.
Currently, the company’s major investors are Sequoia Capital which holds about 19.6 percent, Coatue holds 12.4 percent, Ribbit Capital holds 11 percent and Benext holds 9.6 percent.
Sources had earlier told IANS that Bhavik and Ashneer will have to personally settle their stake between each other and the BharatPe board will not interfere.