Ex-Employee Stole Bengaluru CEO’s Passport With US Visa After Mass Layoffs

Last year, Saarthi AI's founder garnered significant noise when the company laid off a large portion of its workforce. Jha attributed this drastic move to "investor pressure"

The troubles of Bengaluru-based startup Saarthi AI look like it will continue for a while. After executing mass layoffs last year to achieve profitability, the company has been facing allegations of withholding salaries from several employees since March 2023. Its situation has intensified even more, with the CEO alleging that his passport was stolen by a former employee whom the company had dismissed.

In July, Saarthi AI founder and CEO Vishwa Nath Jha told news agency PTI that the company had to lay off employees to pursue profitability. 

A report released on Friday by Entrackr introduces a new twist to the story. In an interview with the tech news site, Jha alleged that a senior employee stole his passport, which prevented him from travelling abroad and securing new capital for the struggling company.

“While I managed to reissue a new passport, I am yet to get the US visa again. It’s a long queue,” Jha said in the report.

Last year, Saarthi AI's founder garnered significant noise when the company laid off a large portion of its workforce. Jha attributed this drastic move to "investor pressure" and the need to achieve financial viability. However, these layoffs were only the beginning of Saarthi AI's troubles.

The situation has since worsened. Jha denies any misconduct and asserts that all employees have been paid, but former and current employees paint a different picture. They claim that over 50 employees have not received their salaries for more than a year, with some alleging that their legal notices have gone unanswered. One anonymous ex-employee expressed frustration, stating, "The founder has been unresponsive and even mentioned that he doesn’t owe us any explanation on multiple occasions."

Further complicating matters, Jha admitted that Saarthi AI still needs to deposit TDS for its employees over the past two fiscal years. Despite these challenges, he remains hopeful, stating that the company aims to achieve positive cash flow by Q2 of 2024 and actively seeks new capital to address its financial issues.