Bharat Pe co-founder Ashneer Grover quits company, claims he’s being ‘vilified’
This came days after his wife Madhuri Jain was fired from BharatPe for alleged financial irregularities.
BharatPe’s co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover on Tuesday resigned from his position in the company, NDTV reported.
Grover resigned just after he received an upcoming board meeting agenda at BharatPe, which included consideration of action against him based on a report submitted by an advisory firm, according to The Indian Express.
On February 23, Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain was sacked by the company for alleged financial irregularities including producing fake invoices.
The fintech’s co-founder has been embroiled in controversy ever since an audio clip of him allegedly using expletives against a Kotak Bank staffer had surfaced in January. While Grover claimed the audio clip was fake, the bank had said it would take legal action against Grover.
On January 19, Grover announced he was going on a “voluntary leave of absence” till the end of March. On January 28, BharatPe announced that it had independent auditors to look into the company’s practices under Grover, according to The Indian Express.
Grover later challenged the decision through a plea at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre claiming the company’s investigation against him was illegal. On February 27, the arbitrator ruled against Grover saying there was no ground to stop governance review at the fintech firm, PTI reported.
In Tuesday’s resignation letter Grover claimed that he was “vilified” and treated in “the most disrespectful manner” since January, The Economic Times reported.
“Since the beginning of 2022, unfortunately, I’ve been embroiled in baseless and targeted attacks on me and my family by a few individuals who are ready not only to harm me and my reputation but also harm the reputation of the company, which they are ostensibly trying to protect,” he wrote in the letter, according to The Indian Express.
He alleged the board has ousted him for their own “vested interests”.
Grover recently gained popularity after he had appeared as a judge on the Indian version of Shark Tank.