Ashneer Grover, co-founder and managing director of BharatPe, has requested that chief executive Suhail Sameer be removed from the board of directors, in the latest of a sequence of remarkable events at the Tiger Global-backed Indian fintech startup.
Grover, who is the focus of an ongoing inquiry whose preliminary findings suggest fraud, requested Sameer's removal from the board in a letter to board members on Wednesday, though he did not explain why.
"I now withdraw my nomination of Suhail Sameer as a Director nominated by me to the Board of Directors of the Company, in the exercise of the power given in me by Clause 3.7 of the SHA and Clause 91.7 of the AoA."
“In light thereof, I, Ashneer Grover request the Board of Directors of the Company to complete the necessary processes to record the cessation of the Directorship of Suhail Sameer as a Director of the
The company,” According to the letter, which was reviewed by TechCrunch,
BharatPe did not respond to a request for comment right away.
The letter was first reported in the Indian publication Economic Times. Grover was seeking legal assistance to defend his shareholding and position at the firm, the paper said earlier this week.
Grover, 39, announced last month that he would be taking a two-month leave of absence after an alleged audio clip of a man hurling abusive and life-threatening statements over the phone to a Kotak Bank representative about not being able to get financing to buy shares in fashion e-commerce Nykaa's IPO surfaced on Twitter.
The video, combined with BharatPe's lengthy history of harsh workplace culture, put enough pressure on the startup's board that it initiated a probe into financial irregularities allegations brought against Grover and his wife, who works as the startup's head of controls.
Grover slammed the audiotape in a tweet that he later removed.
According to the Economic Times, a preliminary investigation by Alvarez and Marsal (A&M) commissioned by BharatPe's board discovered fraudulent transactions such as payments to non-existent vendors and anomalies in invoices submitted to support spending. The Indian publication Mint published fresh information on the "egregious cases of fraud" discovered at the firm on Friday.
Grover and Sameer, who took over as CEO from Grover last year, have been at odds since Grover's letter to the board members on Wednesday. The board of directors has also decided to fire Grover, according to Mint.
Grover and Sameer's relationship has deteriorated in recent months. According to a source familiar with the situation, the two had been at odds for several months. "I am pleased to nominate Suhail Sameer as CEO in appreciation of his phenomenal business success over the previous year and his ability to lead from the front," Grover remarked at the time of Sameer's hiring.
Grover alleged in an interview with MoneyControl in India this week that the firm's investors "arm-twisted" him into taking a vacation and that Sameer was "the board's puppet."
“Anyone who will say anything unsubstantiated against me, I will get their house, car, and everything they ever built. I’m very clear about that. Be clear of the repercussions if you say something without any modicum of truth,” he told the outlet.
BharatPe, which is valued at $2.85 billion and was looking to attract a fresh fundraising round at $4.5 billion valuations until recently, is one of India's fastest-growing fintech businesses. Offline merchants can use the company's services to receive digital payments and secure operating capital.