Ankiti Bose, co-founder of and ex-CEO of fashion e-commerce startup Zilingo has reportedly filed a criminal complaint against fellow co-founder Dhruv Kapoor and ex-COO Aadi Vaidya, pressing charges of ‘cheating’, ‘criminal intimidation’, ‘conspiracy’, and ‘harassment’.
Bose has alleged that Kapoor and Vaidya misled her and Zilingo’s investors to gain financial advantages. She also claimed that they coerced her to give up shares and business under false pretences, Times of India reported citing a ‘six-page complaint’.
Ankiti Bose resigns from Zilingo board
“As the chief operating officer, Aadi Vaidya engaged in misconduct by falsely attributing loss-making deals to me and extending trade credit to various parties in my name. He then used those deals to threaten me by falsely implicating me to investors, despite the fact that all operational dealings were conducted by him in my previous company. I have been threatened, deceived, and had errors attributed to me in order for Vaidya to fraudulently acquire my shares, which are valued at multiple crores,” Bose said as per the TOI report.
She added that Kapoor and vaidya chose to be “sneaky and shady” by hiding various company-related data and information.
COO Aadi Vaidya resigns in new setback to Zilingo
Mint could not independently verify Bose’s complaint.
Rise and fall of Ankiti Bose
Bose co-founded Zilingo with Kapoor in 2015 and she was one of the most celebrated startup founders at that time. Some reports suggest that Zilingo’s valuation surged around ₹7,000 crore in 2019.
Zilingo’s Bose sues Mahesh Murthy for ‘defamatory’ article
However, in 2022, Bose resigned from directorships at holding company Zilingo Pte Ltd as well as its subsidiaries.
Bose was fired by the Zilingo board on 20 May following an investigation into alleged financial irregularities by Kroll. Bose has denied the charges in several media reports.
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Published: 24 Apr 2024, 09:00 AM IST