Startup founder spends Rs 280 crore in 18 months, employees not paid in eight months
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New Delhi: Rahul Yadav, the founder of Indian startup Broker Network '4B Network', has spent Rs 280 crore on his luxurious lifestyle in less than eight months. He has 150 employees who haven't been paid since November 2022.
The entrepreneur reportedly owned a Mercedes-Maybach and had a boardroom at the Taj Land's End which costs Rs 80,000 per day. He was also looking to buy a Bentley.
He even asked some employees to take "advance salary loans" and transfer the money to Yadav. According to a report in the leading startup news portal Inc42, the founder asked his long-term employees to borrow personal loans to pay salaries. One of them even lent close to Rs 50 lakh to Yadav and has now filed a criminal complaint against him. "Yadav told us luxuries such as his Maybach came from his earnings at Anarock," said an employee.
Yadav has denied doing anything wrong at the company.
One of the investors - Allcheckdeals India Private Limited (AIPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Info Edge - has initiated a forensic audit because Yadav "repeatedly failed to provide the information" about particulars of financial transactions, transactions with related parties, and such other aspects. AIPL has invested Rs 276 crore in the 4B Networks and provided debt financing of Rs 12 crore.
"4B Networks has repeatedly failed to provide AIPL with such information and has also not responded to the information requests by the company on several occasions. AIPL has exercised its contractual rights under the shareholders' agreement and articles of association of 4B Networks and pursuant to the same, is initiating a forensic audit into the affairs of the investee company," read the filing.
He founded the company in 2020 and last raised Rs 90 crore in September 2022 at a valuation of $185 million.
