EOW files FIR against BharatPe cofounder Ashneer Grover and his family

The family members named in the FIR include Grover’s wife Madhuri Jain Grover, as well as Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain and Shwetank Jain.

Gupta was the former head of administration at BharatPe and is Grover’s brother in law.

ET has seen a copy of the FIR.

The FIR mentions eight counts of “cognizable criminal offences” including 408 (criminal breach of trust by a clerk or servant), 409 (breach of trust by a public servant, or by a banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of a valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record).

“We welcome the registration of an FIR by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police in the company’s complaint in relation to the criminal offences by Mr Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and other family members.The registration of the FIR is a step in the right direction that unearths various suspicious transactions made by the family for their personal pecuniary gains,” said a BharatPe spokesperson, when ET reached out.

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The spokesperson added that the FIR will now enable the law enforcement agencies to look deeper into the criminality and bring the culprits to book. MZM Legal is the law firm advising BharatPe in the criminal case.

“After a detailed complaint was filed with the EOW, a thorough inquiry was conducted with voluminous documents on record. We are glad that cognisance has been taken and an FIR is now registered against Ashneer, his wife and others,” said Zulfiquar Memon, managing partner, MZM Legal LLP.

ET has reached out to Grover and will update this article once he responds to our queries.

Last year, Resilient Innovations, the parent of BharatPe, had filed a criminal complaint with the EOW against the Grovers, accusing them of indulging in malpractices such as creating fake bills and enlisting fictitious vendors to provide services to the company.

It also filed a civil suit against the Grovers in the Delhi High Court and approached the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) seeking to claw back cofounder Grover’s restricted shareholding in the company.

The Delhi High Court is currently hearing the matter. Separately, BharatPe’s other cofounders, Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya, have also filed lawsuits in the Delhi High Court against Grover over share disputes.