Adding fuel to the ongoing Ashneer Grover-BharatPe saga, multiple sources on Wednesday confirmed that Grover allegedly sold thousands of free passes during the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Dubai last year and pocketed couple of crores from the sale of most of those passes.
BharatPe was the Global Partner of the tournament that was shifted from India to the UAE owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 31 matches were held in Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi across 27 days, from September 19 and October 15, last year.
Sources close to the development told IANS that Grover allegedly sold each pass for at least 750 dirham (approximately Rs 15,000) and in the process, made several crores, which were allegedly deposited in a Dubai account.
Generally, a Global Partner gets around 700 free passes for one match and for 31 matches, the fintech platform had thousands of passes to distribute, and most of which were allegedly sold, according to sources.
Some BharatPe employees told IANS that they were given passes for the common stands at the IPL 2021 in the UAE but not the VIP ones.
It was the first time since 2019 when the IPL was played in front of an audience. Matches were played at Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi with limited seating available keeping in mind the Covid protocols and the UAE government regulations.
In June last year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) entered into a strategic partnership with BharatPe from 2021 to 2023.
The agreement ensured BharatPe’s involvement and integration at all ICC events throughout the term.
Grover had said then that this association “will enable us to build a stronger relationship with our existing merchants, as well as engage better with millions of new, small merchants across the length and breadth of India”.
The fintech platform recently sacked his wife Madhuri Jain Grover over alleged financial irregularities during her tenure as Head of Controls to the tune of crores of rupees.
Post this, Grover had resigned, saying that he is being forced to quit a company of which “I am a founder”.
In a statement, BharatPe said it “reserves all rights to take further legal action against him (Ashneer Grover) and his family”.
Earlier this month, the fintech platform revealed that Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain, and their relatives were engaged in extensive misappropriation of company funds and grossly abused company money to fund their lavish lifestyles.
