Arthmate CEO’s Arrest Triggers Mass Employee Exodus, COO Renu Satti Quits

Gurugram-based fintech startup Arthmate is in complete disarray following the arrest of its cofounder and former chief executive officer Vihaan Kumar, with employees reportedly leaving the company in droves, including a top executive.

Renu Satti, the chief operating officer of Arthmate, has stepped down from her role and several other employees have quit the company since Kumar’s arrest, Entrackr reported, citing sources.

However, Satti’s LinkedIn profile shows her as still being the COO of Arthmate. Prior to joining Arthmate in February, Satti served as the chief executive officer of Paytm Payments Bank.

Troubles started when Ramesh Prabhu, cofounder and chief financial officer of online gaming firm Gameskraft, filed a complaint with the Gurugram Police against Kumar in September 2022, accusing him of fraud, as per the report.

Gameskraft declined to comment on Inc42’s queries, saying “the matter is sub-judice”.

Five months later, a First Information Report (FIR) was reportedly lodged in connection with the case and Kumar was consequently arrested in June.

The complaint against Kumar purportedly alleged that he signed a deal with Gameskraft to invest in the company but later manoeuvred its board in his attempt to take control of its operations.

Kumar allegedly hired service providers and contractors such as Fly Tech, Ginni Tech, Skytech, Synx for Gameskraft without obtaining the promoters’ consent. These companies apparently threw Gameskraft into a financial turmoil, reporting losses on account of undelivered or over-invoiced services.

According to the FIR details cited by Entrackr, Gameskraft absorbed losses to the tune of INR 12.15 Cr due to Kumar’s actions, including unpaid GST dues which had already been funnelled to fraudulent service providers.

In the wake of these allegations, the Gurugram Police and Economic Offence Wing (EoW) lodged an FIR against Kumar on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, using forged documents, and criminal conspiracy.

While Kumar moved the Chandigarh High Court challenging his arrest, the court refused to grant him any relief and quashed his claims last month. Kumar is currently in prison until the court grants him bail.

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