Byju Raveendran urged US ally to flee to avoid testifying against him, offered job: Report

Byju Raveendran, the founder of Byju’s, allegedly attempted to persuade a Nebraska businessman to leave the US to avoid testifying in federal court about questionable activities he witnessed while working with Raveendran, according to a Bloomberg report. 

William R Hailer, the businessman in question, told the court that Raveendran sent him a plane ticket to Dubai just two days before he was scheduled to testify about Raveendran’s attempts to regain control of parts of Byju’s education empire that had been taken over by a court-appointed trustee. A copy of the nearly $10,700 ticket was presented in court, the report stated. 

Hailer also claimed that Raveendran reiterated a job offer with a $500,000 salary if he immediately travelled to Dubai and began working. During a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, Hailer told US Bankruptcy Judge John T Dorsey that Raveendran “encouraged me not to testify” and “said the salary would start on day one”. 

The case centres on Raveendran’s efforts to regain control of Byju’s international operations, including Epic!, a US-based educational software company. These operations are currently under the oversight of a court-appointed trustee. Hailer testified that Raveendran attempted to repurchase $1.2 billion in outstanding debt owed to US creditors in exchange for equity in Epic!, but the plan ultimately failed. 

Judge Dorsey suggested that Hailer’s allegations might warrant a referral to federal prosecutors for potential investigation of criminal activity. 

The bankruptcy case of a Byju's unit in the US is also tied to lenders seeking to recover $533 million in loan proceeds. This missing money is at the centre of a dispute between lenders owed $1.2 billion and Byju Raveendran’s startup, officially named Think & Learn Pvt. 

The missing funds belong to a bankrupt shell company, Byju’s Alpha Inc., which is affiliated with Think & Learn. Byju’s Alpha was seized by lenders after defaulting on its loan. Since then, lenders have attempted to force Think & Learn to repay the $1.2 billion debt and find the missing $533 million they claim should be used to settle the debt.