Allegations and counter allegations have become the new norm at beleaguered fintech BharatPe. Soon after the embattled co-founder Ashneer Grover launched an attack on the chairman of the board of directors Rajnish Kumar and co-founder Bhavik Koladiya alleging the governance review was riddled with prejudice, the company has accused him of spreading false information which it says is not appropriate for a managing director.
"You have been indulging in spreading false and accusatory information about the senior management of the company to the family members and/or spouses of the said members of the senior management. Such abhorrent conduct on your part is completely unwarranted, and the company takes strong objection to the same. You are again called upon to cease and desist from spreading false and inflammatory content about the members of the senior management of the company. Your conduct in this regard is completely unbecoming of a managing director of the company," the firm said in its response letter to Grover's email on February 22.
The company did not specify which information it was referring to where Grover allegedly had reached out to the spouses of people under question.
However, the allegation came after Grover accused Kumar, a veteran of the banking industry and former chairman of SBI, of being biased and prejudiced. Referring to a telephonic conversation, he stated that Koladiya had called him for a meeting and was abusive with him over a verbal conversation adding that he reserves the right to take appropriate legal action.
While the company has acknowledged the call between Grover and Koladiya, it has declined Grover's claims that it happened from the residence of Kumar. Calling it a personal conversation between Koladiya and Grover, BharatPe has alleged that the audio clip shared by him does not relate to any "official communication" of the company with him.
"You are requested to refrain from your attempts of portraying alleged personal phone conversations as communications with the company," the letter said.
Moneycontrol has accessed a call recording where allegedly Koladiya can be seen hurling abuses at Grover following a disagreement over a meeting.
Grover alleged that Koladiya called him and asked to meet at a location without sharing an agenda, adding that Kumar was also with him when the call came. He further stated Kumar's "involvement" in the episode confirmed his apprehensions that the entire governance review was "riddled with premeditation, bias and prejudice".
"Mr Kumar’s involvement also completely erodes any semblance of non-partisan supervision by him as has been envisaged qua his role in the review committee," Grover said in his email.
Rubbishing these claims, Kumar has offered to step down from the position of the chairman of the board of directors. However, the company has denied Grover's claims.
"Your attempts at casting aspersions on the governance review and/or the chairman of the BoD (board of directors) on the basis of an alleged personal phone conversation that you had with Mr Bhavik Koladiya are also denied as vexatious and false," it said.
"From the purported audio clip, it is apparent that none of the issues mentioned by you, viz., governance review, and/or “parallel negotiations” in your letter appear to have been discussed. Accordingly, it is clear that you are fabricating and falsifying information to create self-serving record, and the company takes strong objection to the same," it added.
Alleging that Grover's email was another attempt to derail and impede the governance review, BharatPe said, "Assuming without conceding that the audio clip is genuine, there is nothing to suggest that the company entered into any “parallel negotiations” with you, or that the chairman of the BoD was biased or prejudiced in any manner."
Grover in his email had alleged that since Koladiya was neither a board member nor an "employee of the company", his "involvement" with Kumar fortified his concerns that the company had been willfully leaking confidential information as regards the present dispute to third parties.
Moneycontrol has seen copies of these emails exchanged and has reached out to the parties involved for their comment on the issue.
On January 28, BharatPe disclosed it had hired Alwarez and Marsal to conduct a governance review of the company. The next week, it confirmed it had roped in PwC alongside Alwarez.
Moneycontrol also reported on February 7 that the decision to bring PwC after hiring Alwarez was a step towards terminating the services of Grover's wife Madhuri Grover Jain, controller finance of the company, and Grover, as their ouster can only happen after a report by a Big 4 audit firm indicts them.
Even as the final outcome is likely in the next few days, Alvarez and Marsal’s early reviews pointed towards inconsistencies in dealings with vendors and flagged payments to vendors and consultants that were non-existent.
The report stated that total expenditure of Rs 53.25 crore was made towards vendors that did not exist and the company incurred a loss of Rs 10.97 crore in these dealings.
In an interaction with Moneycontrol published on February 4, Grover had mentioned that the board was arm-twisting him into exiting the company.
While Grover took a leave of absence till March-end amid backlash regarding his abusive language to a Kotak employee, toxic culture at BharatPe, and brash behaviour, his wife was also sent on leave.
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