BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain were stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday on the basis of a lookout circular (LoC) issued against them. The Grovers were travelling to New York, sources in the know told ET.
The LoC was opened against the two at the request of the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police. In June, the EOW registered an FIR against the couple and other family members for alleged misappropriation of funds and causing losses to the tune of Rs 81 crore to Resilient Innovations Private Limited, which runs BharatPe.
An LoC is a circular letter used by authorities to check whether a traveller is wanted by law enforcement agencies. A person against whom an LoC is issued cannot leave the country.
The couple wasn’t immediately available for comment.
Earlier this week, in a status report to the Delhi High Court, the EOW said there were discrepancies in vendor invoices and stated that some human resource (HR) consultancies involved with BharatPe had been set up to siphon off funds from the fintech unicorn.
The eight HR consultancies in question were found to be linked to relatives of Madhuri Jain, the fintech company’s former head of controls. The investigation is still in its initial stages, the EOW stated.
Sources add that the couple has been asked to appear before the EOW next week.
“After the latest status report filed by the EOW in the Delhi HC, where they have found evidence of embezzlement, it is only appropriate for the EOW to issue an LoC against the accused,” Zulfiquar Memon of MZM Legal, counsel for Bharat Pe, told ET.
