FirstCry founder probed for alleged $50 million tax evasion

By Anto Antony for Bloomberg

The tax department is probing an alleged tax evasion by founder of three Indian unicorns — FirstCry.com, Globalbees Brands Ltd and Xpressbees — , according to people familiar with the matter.

The department, which India’s Ministry of Finance runs, has sent notices to founder Supam Maheshwari asking why he didn’t pay more than $50 million in taxes on equity transactions conducted in privately-held FirstCry, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public.

At least six investors in FirstCry, including private equity firm ChrysCapital Management Co and Sunil Bharti Mittal’s family office, have also received enquiries related to the matter, they said. Maheshwari is in conversations with the tax department to settle the probe, according to the people.

Maheshwari, spokespersons for ChrysCapital, the tax department and Mittal didn’t respond to emails seeking comments about the probe.

FirstCry had turned profitable in the financial year ended March 31, 2021, after years of losses. It is one of the few startups in India seeking to tap the IPO market after being profitable at an operational level, Bloomberg reported earlier.