Ashneer Grover, one of the co-founders of BharatPe, and his spouse Madhuri Jain were detained at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport on Thursday, 17 November. The couple were detained due to a lookout circular (LoC) that had been issued against them.
According to ET's sources, the couple was on their way to New York.
The Economic Offence Wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police requested the opening of the LoC against the two individuals. The EOW filed a formal complaint in June alleging that the couple and a few other family members had embezzled money and caused losses to Resilient Innovations Private Limited, the company that manages BharatPe, totaling Rs 81 crore.
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A letter of caution, or LoC, is a circular letter that law enforcement agencies use to determine if a travelling person is wanted. A person who has been issued a LoC is prohibited from traveling abroad.
In a status report submitted to the Delhi High Court earlier this week, the EOW revealed that there were disparities in vendor invoicing and that certain human resource (HR) consultancies associated with BharatPe had been organized to embezzle money from the unicorn fintech company.
It was discovered that the eight HR consultants in question were connected to family members of Madhuri Jain, the ex-control head of the fintech company. According to the EOW, the probe is still in its early phases.
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The couple has been asked to come before the EOW next week in order to participate in the investigation, according to sources.
“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 a LOC against the accused,” Zulfiquar Memon of MZM Legal, counsel for Bharat Pe told ET.
