A US judge has imposed financial penalties on Riju Ravindran, brother of edtech major Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran, after the former failed to disclose the whereabouts of $533 million sought by lenders, a report in Bloomberg said. The judge also concluded Ravindran’s testimony to be “not truthful” and said he either knows where the money is being hidden and won’t say or he refused to find out. Ravindran, along with his brother and sister-in-law, are the directors of Indian technology company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, which is embroiled in a tussle with lenders over a debt exceeding $1.2 billion. The quantum of financial penalties announced will be decided in a future hearing, US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey said Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware. The report further adds that during the hearing, Dorsey attempted to find out where the money is being held but could not get Ravindran to reveal. “I conclude Mr. Ravindran’s testimony is not truthful,” Dorsey said. Earlier, Dorsey had ordered the arrest of a hedge fund manager who helped Ravindran move the cash, who refused a court order to reveal what happened to the money. Dorsey declined to issue an arrest warrant for Ravindran, who is an Indian citizen currently living in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US, the report added. The latest developments come after lenders had previously seized control of a holding company set up by Think & Learn to issue $1.2 billion in debt. The seized entity, Byju’s Alpha, is now in bankruptcy under Dorsey’s oversight. Ravindran is appealing a decision by Delaware’s Chancery Court approving that seizure. Embattled Think and Learn, the parent firm of Byju’s, last month announced a major reorganisation with Founder and Group CEO Byju Raveendran taking “a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations” of the company. Simultaneously, the then CEO Arjun Mohan exited to an external advisory role, lending his “deep edtech expertise to the company and its founders during this transformation phase”. Byju’s is in urgent need of funds, and faces huge financial losses, a barrage of legal suits, and massive investor backlash. Its valuation has fallen below $1 billion (Rs 8,300 crore), and certain investors are pushing to oust Raveendran and members of his family from the company.
