New Delhi, Mar 7 (IANS): As Ashneer Grover and BharatPe tussle enters a critical stage, there may be a new battle brewing over the fintech company's original founder Bhavik Koladiya and his stake in the firm.
According to sources close to the development, Koladiya is believed to have split his holding between Ashneer and another co-founder, Shashvat Nakrani.
Till about 2018, Koladiya held over a 30 per cent stake in the company, but this was diluted as the fintech company received more funding.
Currently, the company's key investors are Sequoia Capital that has nearly 19.6 per cent stake, Coatue has 12.4 per cent stake, Ribbit Capital has 11 per cent, and Beenext 9.6 per cent stake, among others.
Koladiya's LinkedIn profile now says BharatPe, with no official designation.
In 2015, Koladiya was convicted in a credit card fraud case in the US. According to the US Department of Justice, District Judge Mark Hornak had imposed the sentence on Bhavikkumar H. Koladiya, aka "Bob Patel", of Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
Koladiya, the operator of the "Atwood Xpress" in Oakland, stole identities from other persons which he used to open credit card accounts at US Bank, Chase Bank, Discover card and others, and then bought merchandise, including diamonds, with the stolen credit cards.
Finally, his stake in BharatPe was distributed between Ashneer and Nakrani.
Ashneer has 8.5 per cent stake in the company and Koladiya would be around 4 per cent of this figure, sources told IANS.
There was a similar agreement between Koladiya and Nakrani as well.
Koladiya joined the Ashneer-BharatPe saga when Ashneer's wife Madhuri Jain Grover, former head of controls at BharatPe, who was also sacked over charges of financial fraud, escalated the battle via social media.
She posted a video clip of an office party on Twitter where Suhail Sameer, CEO of BharatPe, and Koladiya were seen.
"Congrats @SuhailSameer14 @BhavikKoladiya and Shashvat Nakrani. Now you may indulge in your 'drunken orgies' without having to wait for me (righteous lady) to leave office. Slow clap," she had tweeted.
Ashneer has quit BharatPe as the company accused him, his wife and their relatives of massive financial irregularities to fund their lifestyles.