New Delhi: BharatPe co-founder and former managing director Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain were stopped at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from leaving the country Thursday night, ThePrint has learnt.
A source in the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police, which is probing a case of misappropriation of funds against the Grovers, said that the couple was stopped at the airport from flying to New York because a lookout circular (LOC) was issued against them.
The two were asked to join the probe in the next week, the source added.
The fresh development comes in the wake of the EOW filing a status report in the case. ThePrint has a copy of the report.
In May, ThePrint had reported that Grover, his wife, four ‘family members’ were booked under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 416 (impersonation), 467 (forgery), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Ashneer took to X, formerly Twitter, saying that he was on his way to the US from 16 November to 23 November. The entrepreneur added that he “had not received any communication or summon” from the EOW till Friday morning.
Hello ! Hello !
Kya chal raha hai India mein ? Filhaal to Ashneer stopped at airport chal raha hai janab.
So facts:
1. I had not received any communication or summon from EOW since FIR in May till 8 AM today 17 morning (7 hours after returning from airport).
2. I was going to… pic.twitter.com/I0OHOXJd6F
— Ashneer Grover (@Ashneer_Grover) November 17, 2023
Also Read: Why e-payments firm BharatPe’s board wants to oust Ashneer Grover, who co-founded the company
What EOW has found so far
In the status report filed before the Delhi High Court on 7 November, the investigators — probing the allegations of “illegitimate fund transfer to bogus HR consultancy firms” by the couple — submitted said that they have investigated the incorporation date, date of execution of service agreements signed with these firms, account opening and closing date of bank accounts associated with these firms and proprietorship of these firms.
The EOW has alleged that all these companies were run by direct family members of Madhuri Jain and added that her father Suresh Jain was working “behind the curtains” to operate the bank accounts.
The allegations of siphoning of funds to eight HR consultancy firms were found to be true as their bank accounts were opened merely for the transfer of funds from the Resilient Innovations Private Limited, the parent company of fintech firm BharatPe, it said.
In its status report, the EOW also mentioned that addresses given in all the firms were of direct relatives of Madhuri Jain and approximately Rs 7.60 crore were credited to accounts of these firms.
While Grover had resigned from BharatPe in March 2022, his wife was terminated from the company in February of that year. Grover is caught in multiple legal battles with his former employer over allegations of fraud and financial irregularities.
(Edited by Tony Rai)