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The founder of bankrupt Indian tech firm Baijo tried to use loan money he allegedly stashed away from American creditors to secretly buy back a software company that an American trustee had placed under his control. was seized, according to a new court filing.
According to a court declaration filed by Nebraska, Baiju Ravindran is trying to regain control of his floundering education technology empire, which is under court supervision in both India, where the parents reside, and the U.S., where it is based. Some valuable units are located. Merchant William R. Heller.
Ravindran allegedly recruited Heller, a former political consultant, to try to buy out more than $1.2 billion in debt, according to filings filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. for Ravindran could then convert the loan, which was trading at about 0.24 cents on the dollar as of Wednesday evening, to education software firm Epic! To own. The plan ultimately failed.
“For the past several months I have been used as a pawn in Baijo’s manipulation of the law,” Heller wrote in his testimony. Heller is set to testify in federal court Thursday on behalf of a trustee who plans to sell Epic! To raise money for Baiju’s creditors, including American creditors.
A representative for Baiju and a lawyer for Ravindran did not return requests for comment.
Ravindran has denied wrongdoing in past responses to creditor allegations, saying his actions were a legitimate response to overly aggressive tactics used by creditors to extract money from troubled companies. Have skills.
That summer, as Hailer began negotiating with creditors, Ravindran wired $11.25 million to a company Hailer ran called Rose Lake Inc. Heller had to use the cash to prove to creditors that he was well-funded. The money was then to be returned to Ravindran, Heller said.
According to Heller’s court filings, the money came from OCI Ltd., a U.K.-based logistics firm that has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that U.S. creditors are trying to reclaim. .
Heller said he tried unsuccessfully to gather evidence that OCI was still holding money on Byju’s behalf, even though Ravindran claimed all the cash had been spent. For several months, Heller said he spoke regularly with Ravindran and other Indian businessmen involved in Baiju’s empire. Heller also visited Ravindran’s family compound in Dubai to talk to investors who were reportedly backing Ravindran’s efforts to regain control of Baiju.
Creditors have been fighting Baiju in US state and federal courts for more than a year. Creditors claim that Ravindran hid $533 million in debt that should have been paid to creditors. In India, Byju’s is facing bankruptcy proceedings, where a court-appointed professional has been tasked with collecting money to repay creditors.
The affair is epic! Creations, Inc., 24-11161, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
