India’s crime-fighting agency searched three facilities of edtech giant Byju’s and its founder Byju Raveendran, it said on Saturday, seizing several “incriminating” documents and digital data.
The Directorate of Compliance said it conducted the searches under provisions of the nation’s anti-money laundering law, but declined to provide further details. The agency has conducted several similar investigations in recent months, including into crypto company WazirX, vivo phone maker and the BBC news station.
The agency said “several” complaints from individuals prompted the investigation. As part of Byju’s investigation, which is ongoing, ED said it summoned Raveendran “several” times, but the founder “remained evasive and never showed up during the investigation.”
So far, the investigation has found that Byju has raised around $3.4 billion in foreign direct investment during the period from 2011 to 2023. During this period, the startup remitted around $1.1 billion to foreign entities and tagged around of $115 million as advertising and marketing expenses.
“The company has not prepared its financial statements since the 2020-21 fiscal year and does not have audited accounts, which is mandatory. Therefore, the authenticity of the figures provided by the company is under scrutiny by the banks,” ED said in a statement.
Bangalore-based Byju’s, which is the most valuable startup and which counts BlackRock, Sequoia India, Lightspeed Venture Partners India, UBS among its backers, called the searches “a routine query” and said the startup maintains full transparency with authorities.
“We have nothing but the utmost confidence in the integrity of our operations, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics. We will continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure they have all the information they need, and we are confident that this matter will be resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner. We want to emphasize that business as usual at Byju’s,” a spokesperson for Byju’s legal team said in a statement.
“We are committed to providing high-quality educational products and services to our customers in India and the world. We remain focused on our mission to transform the way students learn and prepare for their future.”
ED’s statement comes at a time when Byju is closing a large funding round and is preparing for the IPO of its subsidiary unit physical tutor chain Aakash.
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