$533 MILLION SIPHONED BY BYJU'S!! US Bankruptcy Court Rules Against Ravindran
Lenders hailed the judgment as a validation of their claims, asserting that BYJU’s founders, including Byju Raveendran, knowingly breached agreements.
On February 28, 2025, a US bankruptcy court in Delaware delivered a damning verdict against Indian edtech giant BYJU’s, ruling that the company, its director Riju Ravindran, and hedge fund Camshaft Capital engaged in a fraudulent scheme to siphon $533 million from BYJU’s Alpha, a US subsidiary. The decision marks a significant escalation in the ongoing legal saga surrounding BYJU’s $1.2 billion Term Loan B, further imperiling the once-celebrated startup.
The court found that BYJU’s parent company, Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, along with Ravindran and Camshaft Capital, orchestrated the transfer of $533 million of loan proceeds to an offshore trust, defrauding BYJU’s Alpha and its lenders. This ruling stems from a contentious battle with a consortium of lenders, led by Glas Trust LLC, who have accused BYJU’s of financial mismanagement since it defaulted on the loan in 2023. The court’s decision reinforces earlier findings, including a 2024 Delaware Supreme Court ruling affirming the lenders’ right to seize BYJU’s Alpha due to the default.
Lenders hailed the judgment as a validation of their claims, asserting that BYJU’s founders, including Byju Raveendran, knowingly breached agreements. The missing $533 million, originally parked in BYJU’s Alpha, has been a focal point of the dispute, with the company previously claiming the funds were secure in a subsidiary. The court, however, rejected this defense, spotlighting a lack of transparency.
This ruling comes amid BYJU’s broader struggles—insolvency proceedings in India, contempt charges against executives in the US, and a plummeting valuation from $22 billion to near zero. With daily fines looming and assets at risk of liquidation, the February 28 decision could be a decisive blow.
