Embattled edtech Byju’s on Friday said that the US court’s order, which directed the arrest of hedge fund manager William Cameron Morton for allegedly helping Byju’s conceal $533 million from its creditors, maintains the status quo. The edtech in a statement said that the order merely maintains the status quo as it has always maintained that the said funds are safely parked in one of our subsidiaries.
“This Order merely maintains the status quo, because we have always maintained that the said funds are safely parked in one of our subsidiaries and, as per the order, it will rightfully remain there. The court denied the primary relief requested – that a mandatory injunction be granted depositing the monies into court,” Byju’s said in the statement, Moneycontrol reported on Friday.
On Thursday, the US bankruptcy court ordered a freeze on $533 million in loan proceeds belonging to Think & Learn Pvt, bring some relief to the term loan lenders. The Delaware court issued a preliminary injunction against Riju Ravindran, Inspilearn LLC, Camshaft Capital Fund, LP, and its affiliates, prohibiting these entities from moving or using the $533 million in question.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for Morton, who is the founder of Camshaft Capital, a statement from the steering committee of the ad hoc group of lenders of the $1.2 billion term loan stated.
“The fact that the parent company is attempting to hide where the assets are is huge. It shows that they are engaged in what appears to be a potential fraud,” the US court observed. “Ravindran…either was being untruthful or he’s the most incompetent officer or director of a company in Delaware history.”
Under the order, Byju, Divya, and the defendants are prohibited from further transferring or using any of the $533 million in loan proceeds previously held by Camshaft Capital Fund LP and subsequently transferred to an unnamed, unknown offshore trust, the committee of lenders said in a statement.