According to police sources on Friday, Ashneer Grover, one of the co-founders of BharatPe, and his wife, Madhuri Jain have been summoned to the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing to be questioned for an alleged ₹ 81-crore fraud at the fintech startup.
The event transpired just hours after Mr. Grover wrote on X that he and his spouse were halted on their way to New York on Thursday at the Delhi airport while on vacation.
EOW authorities informed PTI that the pair was stopped following the issuance of a watch circular against them, and they verified the summons.
In May, the EOW filed a formal complaint (FEW) in connection with the purported ₹ 81-crore fraud case against Mr. Grover, Madhuri Jain, and their family members Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain.
Mr. Grover and his family are accused by BharatPe of causing damages amounting to around ₹ 81.30 crores by paying fraudulent invoices to impostor HR consultants, paying false invoices through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, participating in fraudulent input tax credit transactions and paying fines to the GST authorities, paying unapproved travel agencies, forging Madhuri Jain invoices, and destroying evidence.
According to EOW sources, on November 7, the officials submitted a status report to the court. The accused may spend ten years to life in jail if found guilty. In December 2022, BharatPe also filed a civil lawsuit against Mr. Grover and his family in the Delhi High Court, requesting damages of up to ₹ 88.67 crores for allegedly engaging in financial misappropriation and deception.
