Ashneer Grover, a co-founder of BharatPe, resigned from the company’s board of directors on Tuesday. This comes only days after BharatPe fired his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, for allegedly falsifying invoices and charging the company for personal beauty treatments and international vacations.
In a letter addressed to the BharatPe board, Mr. Grover said, “I write this with a heavy heart as today I am being forced to bid adieu to a company of which I am a founder. With my head held high, that today this company stands as a leader in the fintech world. Unfortunately, since the beginning of 2022, 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 ostensibly they are trying to protect.”
He also stated that “from being celebrated as the face of Indian entrepreneurship, he is now wasting his time fighting a long, lonely battle against his own investors and management. Unfortunately, in this battle, the management has lost what is actually at stake – BharatPe.”
Mr. Grover was placed on leave after charges that he used verbal abuse toward Kotak Mahindra Bank personnel and engaged in deceptive operations, both of which he denies.
When Nykaa’s initial public offering (IPO) was released, he and his wife accused the bank of breaking a promise to procure him 500 crore worth of shares.
Mr. Grover had filed an arbitration petition with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), alleging that the company’s probe of him was unlawful. The SIAC, on the other hand, denied his appeal, leaving him with no recourse.