Riju Ravindran who is a ex-director of the well-known Indian ed-tech company Byju’s has been fined an amount of $10000 daily. This fine will continue until he helps locate $533 million that Byju’s is accused of hiding from US lenders. This ruling came from a judge on Wednesday that Byju’s Ex-Director fined $10000 per day due to this case.
Ravindran, who is the brother of Byju’s founder, has been involved in a two-year-long dispute over the missing money. Lenders claim that this money should be returned to them after Byju’s defaulted on their loan. Ravindran was one of three directors of Think & Learn Pvt. which is the company behind the Byju’s brand. These directors were recently replaced by a trustee as part of an involuntary bankruptcy case in India.
Court Ruling
US Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon imposed the fine on Ravindran. He also rejected a request to pause the US debt case to allow Ravindran and Byju’s to find new lawyers. The American lawyers for Ravindran and Byju’s units want to stop defending their clients in the bankruptcy case. They cited an “irreparable breakdown” as the reason.
However Judge Shannon ruled that Ravindran’s lawyers must continue representing their clients. This will be at least until a hearing next month. This hearing will take place in the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington Delaware. This court has been the main stage for much of this conflict.
In 2022 Byju’s borrowed $1.2 billion from US lenders. Within 18 months the company missed crucial financial reporting deadlines and their offices were raided by Indian regulators and they were accused of defaulting by American lenders.
Since then Byju’s has faced allegations of fraudulently transferring $533 million. This money was moved from a US shell company set up to pay the debt. Byju’s has defended itself claiming it is being targeted by predatory lenders. Still the court has instructed that the Byju’s Ex-Director Fined $10,000 Per Day
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The Dispute
The missing $533 million is central to a dispute between lenders owed $1.2 billion and Byju’s, founded by entrepreneur Byju Raveendran. The money belongs to a bankrupt shell company Byju’s Alpha Inc. This company is connected to Think & Learn and was taken over by the lenders after the loan defaulted.
The US bankruptcy case is listed as BYJU’s Alpha Inc., 24-10140, in the US Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware (Wilmington). This case has seen many twists and turns.
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