$533 mn ‘roundtripped’ to Byju, aides: US court filing

Founder, other affiliates reject allegations made in the Delaware court

- PEERZADA ABRAR

Most of the $533 million missing from Byju’s Alpha was “round-tripped” to founder Byju Raveendran and his affiliates, according to a recent filing at a Delaware bankruptcy court. The allegation contests earlier sworn statements that the money was used for “legitimate corporate needs”.

The allegation, made by plaintiff and debtor Byju’s Alpha, along with intervener-plaintiff GLAS Trust Company in a court submission, is tied to a settlement with OCILtd, a United Kingdom-based procurement firm that reportedly received the bulk of the disputed funds.

Byju’s Alpha, the Delaware special purpose financing vehicle that received the Term Loan B proceeds and is now controlled by the lenders, has sued OCILtd and its former representative Rupin Banker in Delaware as part of efforts to recover the $533 million.

As part of the settlement, OCI’s founder, Oliver Chapman, submitted a sworn declaration that the filing said “itemises down to the cent” how the Alpha funds were handled after OCI received them. The filing alleges that Chapman’s review shows that the funds were routed (via a series of transfers) to a Singapore corporate vehicle identified in the papers as Byju’s Global, which, it says, is owned by Raveendran.