Congress MP from Tamil Nadu Karti Chidambaram has written a second letter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) regarding alleged irregularities in the finances of edtech company BYJU’s. In his letter, Karti, who represent the Sivagangai constituency, said in his letter that there was a 17-month delay on BYJU's part in filing its audits. The company is yet to file its audited report for the financial year 2020-21. The MP said in his letter, “A seventeen-month delay in Byju’s audit filings poses serious questions. Byju's has not filed its audited financial report from its auditor Deloitte for the financial year 2020-21, despite the fact that for FY 2020-21, the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs had extended the last date of filing Cost Audit Report to October 31, 2021.”
Karti also mentioned in the letter that Deloitte had “reportedly raised concerns with the firm's lending, accounting and revenue recognition.” Earlier this month, August, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had sought a reply from BYJU’s regarding the same concerns, Bloomberg has reported. BYJU’s had said that it would complete its audit filing by July 15, saying that it has was yet to secure $250 million (around Rs 2,500 crore) capital from its most recent funding round in March. When the edtech company had failed to do so, Karti had written to SFIO earlier on July 21 calling for a probe.
In his second letter to SFIO dated August 27, the MP has reiterated his demand, adding, “Media reports also suggest that the ed-tech firm has not closed its USD 800 million fundraising round which was announced in March 2022. There continues to be a USD 250 million gap in BJYU’s fundraising from Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott Capital Partners. In a statement, Byju’s had said that the remainder amount is expected to be received by end of August … I once again urge the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to probe Byju’s financial records.”
With inputs from IANS