Indian edtech start-up Byju’s finds itself in trouble again. One of the directors of the firm’s parent entity, Think & Learn Pvt, is facing financial penalties for disobeying the orders of a US judge.
US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey earlier issued an order to figure out where the firm stashed $533 million that the impacted lenders are demanding should be returned to them.
The judge during a hearing on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, said that founder Byju Raveendran’s brother Riju Raveendran ‘not only failed to make a serious effort to find out what happened to the cash but deceived the court’, reported Business Standard.
Dorsey noted, “I conclude Mr. Ravindran’s testimony is not truthful.” The US judge said that Ravindra is either aware of where the money is being hidden and won’t reveal it, or he refuses to figure it out.
This ruling became a symbolic victory for lenders who were represented by their agent Glas Trust. Dorsey further noted that he would conduct a hearing to evaluate the fines that Ravindran needs to pay and decide whether the businessman possesses any assets subject to court jurisdiction.
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Dorsey has consistently expressed agitation over the firm’s refusal to share the location of the money. Earlier in the year, the judge issued an order for the arrest of a hedge fund manager who helped the edtech’s director move the cash.
Sheron Korpus, Ravindran’s attorney, during the hearing, said that his client made full efforts to locate the funds. He said that Ravindran’s brother Byju Raveendran and his wife claimed that they didn’t know about the money. “Everybody has their own family dynamic,” Korpus said in the court.
The missing funds of $533 million is an issue of contention between Think & Learn and the lenders who are owed over $1.2 billion. Both the parties are involved in fighting court battles in Delaware and New York.