In a fresh twist to the BharatPe internal fiasco, Madhuri Jain, head of controls of the fintech start-up and wife of exiled co-founder Ashneer Grover, has alleged that she did not tender her resignation which the board claims to have accepted.

In a written communication to the company’s board, Jain called her alleged resignation “rather astonishing” and said, “Neither did I have any information about the same (alleged resignation), nor have I tendered any such resignation,” an exclusive The Economic Times report said.

Replying to queries, BharatPe told the business daily that it had not sought Jain’s resignation and had asked her to go on compulsory leave on January 20. “Hence, the question of the board accepting her resignation does not arise,” it said.

The confusion between the top management at BharatPe and the board about Jain’s resignation arose after Grover offered her resignation at a board meeting on January 19, which is recorded in the minutes, multiple sources told the newspaper. Jain reported to Grover.

According to Grover, not all board members had agreed on his proposal to offer Jain’s resignation, a move he termed “spontaneous”. In a communication on the minutes of the meeting, Grover had said the decision would be taken after he returned to the company, the sources said.

Jain later wrote to the board that she had not tendered her resignation and that the “purported” resignation was only accepted as she was Ashneer’s wife.

“I would like to take this opportunity to remind the board that I am the head of controls at the company, and that my role goes further than just being limited to being the wife of Ashneer,” she said.

Without giving more details, Jain said she would formally resign after being exonerated “in a fair and independent review”, the letter viewed by The Economic Times said.

Meanwhile, BharatPe chief executive Suhail Sameer had also informally asked Jain to step down on January 20 before international consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal (A&M) submitted its initial report. The discussions were held the same day when Jain was asked to go on leave, following ‘alleged’ internal complaints against her.

The preliminary investigation by Alvarez and Marsal, which looked into allegations of fraud at BharatPe, found two egregious instances of financial discrepancy at the fintech firm. The report dated January 24 said there were irregularities in recruitment and paying non-existent vendors and Jain and her family members were allegedly involved in it.

On February 10, Jain wrote to Alvarez & Marsal demanding an internal investigation on how details of the probe were leaked to the media and warning the independent consultants of legal action.

While Jain and Grover were unavailable for comment on the fresh development, BharatPe board chairman Rajnish Kumar refused to speak on the company’s internal matters.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)