US Bankruptcy Court Mulls Sanctions On BYJU’S Content Manager, Business Ally

Troubled edtech startup BYJU’S will likely face another setback as a US bankruptcy court is mulling over imposing sanctions on the company’s chief content officer and an ally of Byju Raveedran.

BYJU’S content manager Vinay Ravindra and company ally Rajendran Vellapalath, founder of Dubai-based tech startup Voizzit Technology, could be slapped with penalties worth millions of dollars in the US, Bloomberg reported.

The duo are facing sanctions in the US for their alleged role in “stripping software, cash and other assets” from BYJU’S-owned Epic! and Tangible Play, which are currently held up in bankruptcy proceedings.

Ravindra and Vellapalath will be held in contempt of court and hit with financial penalties if they do not justify their actions, the report cited US bankruptcy judge John T Dorsey as saying.

While attending a court hearing on December 3 via video conferencing, Vellapalath reportedly contended that Voizzit is the owner of Epic! and not BYJU’S. He said his company gave BYJU’S over $100 Mn in debt and therefore had the right to takeover its US-based subsidiaries. However, the judge did not found him to be “credible”.

Earlier it was reported that Byju Raveendran tried to regain control of Epic! using money that he allegedly hid from investors. While BYJU’S founder initially hired a Nebraska-based businessman to do his bidding, he later tried to convince him to flee the US to avoid testifying against him before a federal judge.

This comes just days after the Centre ordered a probe into the financial and accounting practices at BYJU’S over allegations that the edtech company “misreported” financial statements and siphoned off funds.

A lawsuit filed in a Delaware court last month accused BYJU’S of siphoning off funds worth $700,000 from its US subsidiaries in violation of bankruptcy proceedings.

As per the lawsuit, the edtech startup allegedly diverted funds to Whitehat Education Technology. The money was to be repaid to its US lenders who have been at loggerheads with BYJU’S over pending dues.