NewJaisa Tech IPO facing headwinds

Dreadful Track Record

♦ Handa was removed as Director at Salori E Commerce for misusing tech, resources

♦ Later, he established NewJaisa Technologies

♦ Further, he misused old firm’s ERP in NewJaisa Tech

♦ An FIR lodged against NewJaisa Tech and Handa in Hyd on Sept 23

Mumbai: Controversy has shrouded the IPO-bound NewJaisa Technologies. Scheduled for September 25, this IPO could result in substantial losses for unsuspecting shareholders, who are unaware of the promoter Vishesh Handa’s fraudulent activities, says Wg Cdr Nitin Kanwar (Retd) in an open letter which has gone viral on the social media. Kanwar came out with the open letter to alert investors,

Vishesh Handa was working with Salori E Commerce, a company actively involved in refurbishing electronic goods since November 2015. The company had developed an in-house ERP for its operations, which though was not patented or trademarked, was safeguarded by a password and hosted on Amazon Web Services. Vishesh, in his capacity as the Director of the company was the sole possessor of this password.

He was removed from Salori E Commerce in September 2020, as he misused company paresources for promoting Tupperware products, leading to personal gain. Post his removal, he established NewJaisa Technologies Pvt Ltd on the name of Sukriti Vijay, his sister-in-law and later, on February 18, 2022, he received a gift of all the shares held by Sukriti Vijay. This new company operated in a similar business domain as Salori E Commerce.

Following his removal from Salori, Vishesh failed to provide the necessary ERP login and other crucial details for operation to the company. This led to the theft of the ERP, which was subsequently utilized by NewJaisa Technologies for approximately eighteen months, causing significant financial harm to Salori E Commerce. An FIR has been lodged against NewJaisa Technologies and Vishal Handa regarding this in Hyderabad on September 23.

Meanwhile, in his letter written to Ashwani Bhatia, whole-time director of Sebi, Commander Rishi Raj Singh (Retd), who founded Salori E Commerce, has complained of the alleged fraudulent conduct perpetrated by NewJaisa Technologies Ltd, which is currently attempting to access public funds and secure a listing on the securities exchange.

NewJaisa Technologies recently filed its Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) on September 16, and it opened its issue to retail investors on September 25. It has come to my attention, he went on, that certain fraudulent activities undertaken by the promoter of New Jaisa have been deliberately concealed from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Allowing such promoters to access public funds raises serious concerns about the protection of investor interests, said Commander Rishi Raj Singh.

In November 2015, the Complainant, Commander Rishi Raj Singh (Retd), founded Salori under the brand name ‘UsedYetNew.com’ with the primary objective of establishing an organized industry for refurbishing electronic goods within India. Salori made significant investments in research and development, as well as process formulation, resulting in a successful business model with annual sales totaling approximately Rs1.2 crore.

Subsequently, in March 2017, Handa was employed by the complainant to join the venture in exchange for a 30 per cent equity stake in Salori. He was also appointed as a Director on Salori’s board on September 30, 2017.

In its response to complaint to Sebi against NewJaisa Technologies, Ivor Misquith, ED of Indorient Financial Services, said that all the allegations as levelled by Cdr Rishi Raj Singh (Rtd) are baseless, unsubstantiated and devoid of any credible facts. The company and its promoters have been carrying out the business in accordance with the applicable laws, he added.