Ashneer Grover: Ashneer Grover writes to RBI seeking probe into BharatPe’s shareholding, licence applications

Grover said in a letter dated March 6, addressed to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, that BharatPe has deliberately “defrauded” the regulator by bringing back Bhavik Koladiya, who was convicted of a wire fraud in the US, to the company’s cap table, after securing a bunch of licences.

Grover, who had resigned from the company in March 2022, sought investigation to ascertain whether the company’s board and investors had “warehoused” Koladiya’s shares for a specific period of time only to bring him back after the requisite approvals were received from the central bank.

Warehousing refers to accumulating shares for a period of time before an entity acquires a significant chunk in the company.

Grover also raised the question that if Koladiya was part of BharatPe’s cap table during the time of the licence application, would the regulator have deemed BharatPe fit for a 49% stake in Unity Small Finance Bank or even allowed it to acquire a controlling stake in non-banking finance company Liquiloans. BharatPe also has an in-principle approval from the regulator for the payments aggregator business through its wholly owned subsidiary Resilient Payments.

In his letter Grover also said that in 2022-23, the other cofounder, Shashvat Nakrani, transferred shares to Koladiya, who had been indicted in the US in 2013 due to wire frauds. He claimed that Nakrani transferred 11.7% shares, amounting to about Rs 600 crore, to Koladiya for free, citing the company’s annual reports.

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Grover demanded that if the company is found guilty, all its licences be revoked and its entire board of directors banned from holding any directorship or management position in any RBI regulated entity. He also demanded blacklisting of the venture firms associated with the fintech startup and imposition of monetary penalty on them.BharatPe, which offers QR code based digital payments along with consumer and merchant loans, has raised about $600 million (about Rs 5,000 crore) till date. In 2021 it achieved a valuation of $2.7 billion. The company had been in talks since last year to raise about $100 million in fresh equity, but the deal did not materialise. Besides, ET reported on December 19 last year that the company was looking to raise about Rs 500 crore in debt through non-convertible debentures.

On March 4, Grover also wrote a letter to the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police to quash the first information report lodged against him on account of alleged fraud. He cited the Deloitte audit report which said that no fraud was committed. Earlier Delhi Police did not give permission to Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain to travel to London. A look out circular was issued against Grover and Jain on November 6 last year, barring the couple from travelling abroad.

Grover said in a letter dated March 6, addressed to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, that BharatPe has deliberately “defrauded” the regulator by bringing back Bhavik Koladiya, who was convicted of a wire fraud in the US, to the company’s cap table, after securing a bunch of licences.

Grover, who had resigned from the company in March 2022, sought investigation to ascertain whether the company’s board and investors had “warehoused” Koladiya’s shares for a specific period of time only to bring him back after the requisite approvals were received from the central bank.

Warehousing refers to accumulating shares for a period of time before an entity acquires a significant chunk in the company.

Grover also raised the question that if Koladiya was part of BharatPe’s cap table during the time of the licence application, would the regulator have deemed BharatPe fit for a 49% stake in Unity Small Finance Bank or even allowed it to acquire a controlling stake in non-banking finance company Liquiloans. BharatPe also has an in-principle approval from the regulator for the payments aggregator business through its wholly owned subsidiary Resilient Payments.

In his letter Grover also said that in 2022-23, the other cofounder, Shashvat Nakrani, transferred shares to Koladiya, who had been indicted in the US in 2013 due to wire frauds. He claimed that Nakrani transferred 11.7% shares, amounting to about Rs 600 crore, to Koladiya for free, citing the company’s annual reports.

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Grover demanded that if the company is found guilty, all its licences be revoked and its entire board of directors banned from holding any directorship or management position in any RBI regulated entity. He also demanded blacklisting of the venture firms associated with the fintech startup and imposition of monetary penalty on them.BharatPe, which offers QR code based digital payments along with consumer and merchant loans, has raised about $600 million (about Rs 5,000 crore) till date. In 2021 it achieved a valuation of $2.7 billion. The company had been in talks since last year to raise about $100 million in fresh equity, but the deal did not materialise. Besides, ET reported on December 19 last year that the company was looking to raise about Rs 500 crore in debt through non-convertible debentures.

On March 4, Grover also wrote a letter to the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police to quash the first information report lodged against him on account of alleged fraud. He cited the Deloitte audit report which said that no fraud was committed. Earlier Delhi Police did not give permission to Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain to travel to London. A look out circular was issued against Grover and Jain on November 6 last year, barring the couple from travelling abroad.