Why Former Shark Tank India Judge Ashneer Grover And His Wife Are In Probe? BharatPe Fraud Explained

Ashneer Grover, once upon a time, looked like the idol from whom young generations could learn to become successful businessmen. His fintech BharatPe since inception climbed to success drastically and is valued in billions of dollars. However, Grover's controversy affected both BharatPe and the founder's position in the company itself. Now, Grover is in the hall of shame as he and his wife along with a few others are accused of alleged Rs 81 crore fraud by BharatPe.

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has reportedly filed an FIR against the former Shark Tank India judge Ashneer, his wife Madhuri Jain and a few of family members Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain and Shwetank Jain in a fraud case to the tune of Rs 81 crore.

The announcement came in the limelight when Grover took to his X handle where he claimed that he and his wife Madhuri were stopped at the Delhi Airport from flying internationally.

Grover tweeted with a sarcastic comment at the start, "Kya chal raha hai India mein? Filhaal to Ashneer stopped at airport chal raha hai janab."

He and his wife were flying to the United States from November 16th to 23rd. However, at the immigration at Delhi airport, the authorities stopped them and told them that there was a LoC and that they needed to check with EOW for further process. He added, "I found it strange as have travelled 4 times internationally since FIR filed in May - never been a problem and I had not even been summoned once."

"Flight left in meantime anyways - EOW folks directed Immigration to let us out so that we can return home," Grover mentioned. Adding he said, "Today morning EOW summon was home delivered - will cooperate as always."

Sources told PTI that the couple has been asked to appear at the Economic Offences Wing's (EOW) Mandir Marg office on November 21 to join the probe being carried out on a complaint by BharatPe. EOW also confirmed to the news agency that the couple was stopped after a lookout circular was issued against them.

BharatPe Fraud Case:

The fintech has accused Grover and his family of causing Rs 81.30 crore worth of damages to them through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through passthrough vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri Jain and the destruction of evidence.

A few days ago, Mint reported that recruitment firms linked to BharatPE co-founder Ashneer Grover and his family members used backdated invoices to siphon off funds for work they never did for the fintech unicorn, an investigation by the EOW of Delhi Police founded. EOW also could not trace many firms to which BharatPe had made vendor payments. There were eight human resources (HR) firms hired by BharatPe as consultants and these were -- Vardhaman Marketing, Impulse Marketing, Vista Services, Evolve Bizserve, Team Source, Team Works, True Work Co, and Vikash Enterprises.

Of these 8 firms, it is reported that the first five had bank account numbers which were not created on the dates stated on invoices. Also, somewhat Rs 7.60 crore is said to have been credited to these 8 HR firms.

Grover founded BharatPe in 2018 and the unicorn has grown rapidly. The fintech has grown rapidly and by 2021, it had a valuation of $2.85 billion. Forbes India also earlier recognized Grover's ability to turn things around as a 'turnaround man'. They attribute his success to his experience in scaling businesses.

As per Chegg, Ashneer Grover's net worth is approximately 108 Million Dollars or Rs 790 crore. Under his leadership, BharatPe had grown exponentially. It became one of the fastest-growing companies in the Indian fintech space. A major part of Ashneer Grover's net worth is due to BharatPe. In 2021, Ashneer Grover appeared as a judge on the first season of the popular show Shark Tank. Ashneer Grover in Shark Tank was an impactful judge. While his stint on the show made headlines, his attitude also raised a few brows.

Further, Chegg's report highlighted that Under his leadership, BharatPe became one of the leading players in the Indian digital payment market. BharatPe has over 50 million transactions processed monthly. Grover has been recognized for his business acumen with many awards. He received the Economic Times 40 under 40 awards in 2018.

However, in March last year, Grover resigned from his Managing Director post and also exited the fintech's board. However, Grover had claimed in his resignation letter that he was 'vilified' and treated most disrespectfully by investors.

If Grover is convicted in the latest findings at EOW, he might be facing between 10 years to life in prison.