BharatPe looking for CFO, internal audit head after sacking Madhuri Jain

Sources say fintech unicorn is in the process of hiring CFO, internal audit head, strengthening procurement processes in next one month

Fintech unicorn BharatPe is looking to hire a chief financial officer, an internal audit head and stren­gthen its procurement processes in the next one month, according to sources close to developments.

A company spokesperson confirmed its hiring plan for the two positions but declined to comment any further.

Meanwhile, the company sacked Madhuri Jain, the head of controls at BharatPe and wife of the company’s embattled founder and managing director Ashneer Grover.

“As per your query, we can confirm that the services of Madhuri Jain Grover have been terminated in accordance with the terms of her employment agreement,” a company spokesperson said.

The company did not respond to queries related to the new hirings.

On Wednesday morning, Jain posted a flurry of video clips of office revelry on Twitter and alleged that the company’s top brass indulged in “drunken orgies”, called the company’s board “chauvinistic”, said she has been treated like an object, and labelled the ongoing governance review in the company a ‘witch-hunt’.

Meanwhile, media reports have emerged that Grover has filed an emergency plea in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) to stop a probe into alleged financial mismanagement in the company.

The BharatPe MD, who is on leave till March end, is also said to be seeking indemnity against any future action by the company through the plea. The company and Grover are reportedly in parallel talks to settle the matter through a buyout of the latter’s stake in the unicorn.

Grover’s stake of 9.5 per cent in the company was worth Rs 1,915 crore based on the last funding round in August, when BharatPe was valued at $2.8 billion. However, in a recent interview, he said he will leave the company only if he is paid Rs 4,000 crore, valuing the company at $6 billion.

Earlier this month, BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer wrote a letter to disgruntled employees, saying there are some “serious allegations” based on internal complaints that are being reviewed and that they must keep their faith in the board.

Suhail said it is his “commitment, also on behalf of the wider leadership, that we’ll emerge stronger from all this”.

He said the company will set up a town hall meeting towards the end of this month to “share updates about governance review” and other announcements.

While Alvarez and Marsal, a leading management consultant and risk advisory firm, is expected to submit its report into financial irregularities at the firm during Grover’s time in “a couple of weeks”, PwC has also been roped in to audit the functioning of the fintech platform.

Sameer said in the letter that the “internal governance review is being carried out by firms (Shardul Amarchand, A&M and PwC). Based on some internal complaints, we decided to do a full audit of our governance processes”.

While many findings of governance review are “pretty standard”, there are “a couple of more serious allegations”, he wrote, saying the review is still “substantiating the allegations”.

High stakes saga
 

• Ashneer Grover has filed an emergency plea in the SIAC to stop a probe into alleged financial mismanagement in the company

• BharatPe and Grover are reportedly in parallel talks to settle the matter through a buyout of the latter’s stake in the unicorn

• Grover’s stake of 9.5 per cent in the company was worth Rs 1,915 crore based on the last funding round in August 2021 when BharatPe was valued at $2.8 billion

• His wife Madhuri Jain has been sacked as the company’s head of controls as reports of alleged wrongdoings have emerged

• Earlier this month, BharatPe CEO Suhail Sameer wrote a letter to disgruntled employees, saying that there are some "serious allegations" based on internal complaints which are being reviewed