Delhi Court Denies Bail To Vendor Amit Kumar Bansal In BharatPe Fraud Case

Delhi’s Saket district court has refused to grant bail to vendor Amit Kumar Bansal, who was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) a month back as part of its investigation in the alleged INR 82 Cr fraud at fintech unicorn BharatPe.

“Without delving into the merits of the case at this stage, there is prima facie evidence linking the accused to the offences. Prima facie, it seems that the offence is serious in nature, involving an amount of at least INR 30 Cr,” as per the court’s order accessed by Inc42. 

The court further emphasised the necessity of continuing Bansal’s custodial interrogation as part of the ongoing investigation.

It also noted that Bansal was involved with several non-existent companies that issued fraudulent invoices. “The verification of invoices casts doubt on the transactions, as the invoices appear to have been falsified with incorrect details,” the court added.

Bansal’s defence counsel argued that the accused had been falsely implicated and it was his deceased brother Ravi Bansal who managed the business dealings. It added that Bansal received no funds and no amount was transferred to his bank account.

Bansal’s council further pointed out that both his father and mother are suffering from serious ailments and even the family of his deceased brother is dependent on him, asking for the bail application to be allowed. 

BharatPe contended that 33 non-existing firms raised invoices amounting to approximately INR 72 Cr for the supply of QR standees and accessories. Out of these 33 firms, 23 are non-existent and are related to the accused Amit Kumar Bansal.

The court added that as per investigation, both Ravi Bansal (since deceased) and Amit Kumar Bansal, were associated with most of these non-existing vendors or firms. 

A common email address ([email protected]) was used for these activities and it was found to be operated by Amit Kumar Bansal. 

Arguing this, Bansal’s council claimed that his brother was using this email ID. To this, the court said the email ID was for a considerable period even after his brother’s death and the notion of the applicant’s brother using the applicant’s email account to frequently raise invoices and place purchase orders seems improbable. 

The court order added, “It is observed that the brother has now passed away, and for a considerable period of time, the email ID was used, likely with the applicant’s consent. In today’s era, it is unimaginable that a person, even with average schooling, cannot open an email account.”

“There are also allegations that Bansal has deleted the email account, raising the possibility that evidence in this case may be tampered with,” the District court added. 

Currently held in police remand at the EOW office in Mandir Marg, New Delhi, Bansal will be presented before the court on Monday.

Bansal was arrested by the EOW of the Delhi Police on August 6, following an FIR lodged against BharatPe cofounder Ashneer Grover and others for orchestrating financial losses through fraud. 

BharatPe’s complaint against ousted cofounder Grover, wife Madhuri and family members, including Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain, and Shwetank Jain was registered by the EOW in May 2023.

BharatPe has accused Grover and his family of causing a loss of around INR 81.3 Cr to the company. 

This was allegedly done through fake payments to human resource consultants, inflated payments to vendors linked to the accused, fraudulent transactions for tax credit, penalties paid to GST authorities, illegal payments to travel agencies, and forged invoices by Jain, along with the destruction of evidence.

The EOW also discovered a host of unexplained payments made to allegedly fake HR consultancies by Ashneer and Madhuri during their course of employment at the company. 

While Ashneer was a cofounder at BharatPe, Madhuri was the head of controls, a role which encompassed overseeing the company’s finances and regulatory compliance.

Besides the EOW case, BharatPe filed a civil suit with the Delhi High Court in November last year seeking INR 88.67 Cr in damages from Ashneer and Madhuri. 

It is pertinent to note that Ashneer is embattling a slew of legal cases against its founded company BharatPe.

He is also stuck in litigation over shares held by him for BharatPe founder Shashvat Nakrani and cofounder Bhavik Koladiya. Both are subject matters of two separate cases currently being heard by the Delhi HC. 

Last month, the Delhi HC appointed a sole arbitrator to address the ongoing legal dispute between BharatPe and Ashneer Grover on his alleged ‘confidentiality breach’ under his employment pact.