Ankiti Bose, former CEO of B2B fashion startup Zilingo, has filed a first information report with Mumbai Police, accusing two of the company’s top executives, co-founder Dhruv Kapoor and former chief operating officer, Aadi Vaidya, of cheating, fraud, criminal intimidation, as well as allegations of sexual and mental harassment.
According to the copy of the FIR, Bose has alleged that Kapoor and Vaidya have engaged in deceptive activities, misleading both her and the company’s investors in an attempt to gain financial advantages and coerce her into relinquishing her shares and business under false pretenses.
Law firm, Singhania & Co, which is representing Bose, said on Wednesday that the Mumbai Police has launched a criminal investigation against Kapoor and Vaidya.
The allegations pertain to cheating and fraud (Sections 415, 416, 417 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860); criminal conspiracy (Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860): defamation (Sections 499, 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860); and harassment and criminal intimidation (Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860).
After a prolonged boardroom drama which included Bose being fired as the company’s chief executive officer, Zilingo entered liquidation in January last year.
“As the COO 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,” Bose alleged in her complaint.
Bose also has made the accusation that the duo of using lewd language and sending vulgar sexually explicit messages from untraceable account.She has also accused Kapoor of sexual harassment.