Raveendran, the founder of failed education technology firm Byju's was sentenced to six months in jail by a Singapore court for contempt, according to a report by Bloomberg. Byju Raveendran was ordered to serve jail time after the court said he had disobeyed multiple orders related to his assets dating back to April 2024.
He has been instructed to surrender himself to officials, pay costs of S$90,000 ($70,500) and provide documents proving his legal ownership of Beeaar Investco Pte, a corporate entity that held shares in a related company.
The threat of jail time is the latest blow to a founder who is now facing claims from foreign investors around the world, including in the US where lenders are fighting to claw back losses from a $1.2 billion loan that soured, as per the report.
He is now being pursued in Singapore's court system by a subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, which participated in a funding round for the tech firm as it was cutting jobs and laying off staff. Qatar Holdings was represented by Drew & Napier in the matter. Byju's Investments was represented by Fervent Chambers.
Last year, a US bankruptcy court has ordered Raveendran to pay over $1.07 billion, holding him personally liable for the movement and concealment of funds from Byju's Alpha, the company's US-based financing arm.
The default judgment, issued by Judge Brendan Shannon of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, follows Raveendran's repeated failure to comply with directions to appear before the court and provide documents, according to multiple media reports.
A default judgment is a ruling issued when a party does not participate in the litigation or ignores court orders, allowing the court to decide the case without a trial. Byju's Alpha, incorporated in Delaware in 2021, was established as a special-purpose vehicle to manage a $1.2 billion term loan from a consortium of global lenders.
Meanwhile, Byju Raveendran denied all allegations and informed that he will appeal the US court judgment. Raveendra said that the US Court default judgement was issued on an expedited basis and precluded him from presenting a defence.
Raveendran's founding of educational technology firm Think & Learn Pvt — better known as Byju's — turned him into a billionaire, making him one of the major success stories among a wave of Indian start-ups that have attracted capital from global firms.
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