BharatPe fires Ashneer Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain for‘ misappropriation of funds

In a major development, the BharatPe board has sacked Shark Tank Judge Ashneer Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain on the charges of ‘misappropriation of funds’. According to Economic Times, Jain was in charge of the funds since 2018. The total assets of the companies were valued at $2.8 billion. The financial inconsistencies were found during the investigation by Alvarez & Marshal. The report quoted people who were aware of the matter as saying that Jain had used the funds for personal purchasing. However, the final copy of the investigation is yet to be presented to the board. Jain, according to ET, has been notified of the termination on February 23.

On February 10, Jain wrote to the board of Directors at BharatPe that she never presented her resignation. This came after, according to reports, her resignation was accepted by the board. In the letter, she wrote that she was being used as a ‘pawn’ amidst the fight between shareholders of the company. She also said that it defied the norms of corporate governance. Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain have been on a leave since January 19 and 20 respectively. Grover too offered to resign from the board in January. He also asked the company to pay him Rs 4,000 crore for the resignation. However, he took back the resignation almost immediately. According to ET, he said that decision on his resignation must be taken after he returns from his leave in April 2022.The report also added that Jain’s brother Shwetank Jain and brother-in-law Deepak Jagdishram Gupta might also be involved in the financial irregularities. However, the official word from the BharatPe board is yet to come out. Grover found himself landing in a soup in January after an audio clip went viral in he and Madhuri Jain apparently abused a relationship manager from Kotak Mahindra bank. Later, Grover, in a tweet, which he deleted later, called it a fake audio by "some scamster trying to extort funds ($2,40,000 bitcoins)"