Byju’s LinkedIn account, post on allegations against EY taken down, claims wife Divya Gokulnath

Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of struggling edtech platform Byju’s and the wife of Byju Raveendran, has claimed that her husband’s LinkedIn account had been taken down. Gokulnath said that Byju’s post, which urged a thorough investigation into alleged collusion and fraud by its lender Glas Trust, consultancy firm EY and former resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava, has been taken down.

“Byju’s post and account taken down. Investigating why. But no problem. Here we go again,” she said, posting screenshots of the edtech platform CEO’s LinkedIn post.

At the time of writing this article, Byju Raveendran’s LinkedIn account as well as the post were restored.

Divya Gokulnath’s allegations come after a US bankruptcy court on Friday found Byju Raveendran’s brother Riju Ravindran and hedge fund Camshaft Capital guilty of “fraudulent transfer” of $533 million and a “breach of fiduciary duty.”

Riju Ravindran, one of the co-founders of Byju’s parent company Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, was the sole director of Byju’s Alpha Inc. from September 2021 to March 2023. The court’s action came after a complaint by a consortium of lenders, Glas Trust, who accused Riju and Camshaft of fraud.

Friday’s judgment came as a win for the creditors vying to collect on a defaulted $1.2 billion loan sanctioned by them to Alpha.

Byju’s fraudulently transferred at least part of the money to a small hedge fund based in Miami to keep it out of lenders’ hands, US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey also ruled.

Byju Raveendran’s post

Byju Raveendran on Friday made a long post on LinkedIn, where he has not been active until now.

“I am the Byju of BYJU’S, and I am here now. I should have been here sooner. But I was too busy building my company. Then I was too busy saving everything I built. I have long been wanting to connect with you directly. But I was waiting for justice to be done and truth to prevail,” he said.

He said that he received a document proving a “criminal collusion” between EY India, Glas Trust and resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava.

“Me and several employees received a document with conclusive evidence of criminal collusion between EY India, which I otherwise held in high regard, GLAS Trust, which claims to represents the lenders it does not represent, and the IRP who was appointed by an Indian court to protect BYJU’S but ended up destroying it,” he said.

Raveendran requested a thorough investigation into the matter.

“I am sure a thorough investigation of this evidence will reveal the truth. I request the authorities to take that up immediately,” he said.

His post came after a whistleblower from EY India said that the audit firm worked with Glas Trust, and was appointed by Srivastava. The post had gone viral.

EY however had refuted the whistleblower allegations.

Meanwhile, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday gave nod to the appointment of Shailendra Ajmera, another EY employee, as the new RP. Byju Raveendran’s lawyers had opposed the move.

“Those who believe in me make me strong. Those who do not, make me stronger. As they say, you can never defeat someone who does not give up,” the troubled edtech platform’s CEO said.