Former Executive Chairman and CEO of INX Media (which was later named 9X Media), Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, started the company in 2006, before unceremoniously exiting it in 2009, when the company was running dry of money. Indrani Mukerjea was recently arrested in the murder of her daughter, Sheena Bora, and Peter is being questioned by the Mumbai Police.
This isn't the only trouble the two have run into. The company that the couple founded nearly 10 years ago, garnered investment from various private equity players in its nascent stage, but the firm soon ran into trouble, with mounting losses, and allegations that the co-founders had syphoned off investors' money.
Here's a look at the initial stakeholders of INX Media
Peter and Indrani Mukerjea
Ex-CEO Star India, spent 14 years at STAR. He was made CEO of STAR India in 1999, before he quit in January 2007. Indrani, an HR Consultant, counted Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani as her most important client, according to a Tehelka report.
Peter is hailed as the man who turned around STAR India's fortunes when he took over India operations in 1999. It was under his leadership that STAR launched Kaun Banega Crorepati, however, it was right before the show was re-launched in a new avatar, with actor Shah Rukh Khan as the host, that Peter decided to quit (2007). Just a year prior to his exit, Star India was divided into Star Group and Star Entertainment India. During this restructure, he was made the CEO of Star Group, while Sameer Nair was made the CEO of Star Entertainment India.
Indrani and Peter launched INX Media in 2006, where Indrani took the chair as the CEO.
Peter soon joined his wife, Indrani Mukerjea at INX Media, a company the couple had set up in 2006, as the Executive Chairman.
The company received funding from Singapore-based Temasek, followed by Kotak Equity Fund, New Vernon, and New Silk Route.
Tesamak decided to audit the company in 2009 when it was running huge losses, and found that the co-founder couple had syphoned off huge sums of money. In 2007, the Mukerjeas sold 30% of their stake to the private equity players and exited the business.
New Silk Route (NSR)
NSR had invested in INX Media in 2007, and in 2010, there were talks that they were looking to buy out the stake of other private equity investors in the company, namely, New Vernon, Kotak, and Temasek. The four investors had pledged $170 million into the company when the co-founders had quit, with the company making huge losses.
New Silk Route, a private equity company, was founded by Rajat Gupta, Raj Rajaratham, Anil Kumar, Victor Menezes, Parag Saxena, and Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
Four of the six co-founders of this company that invested in INX Media have been at some point questioned for insider trading or securities fraud.
Rajat Gupta, the ex-Goldman Sachs director, was sentenced to two years' jail term and slapped with a $5 million penalty after he was convicted of insider trading. Gupta was convicted in three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The court had found compelling evidence to prove that Gupta had benefited from the financial tips – he was going to be made chairman, Galleon International and co-founder of New Silk Route – he had given to one of the other co-founders of New Silk Route, Raj Rajaratham.
Raj Rajaratham
Rajaratham, the founder of New York-based Galleon Group, was a billionaire hedge fund manager, before he was convicted on charges of insider trading on stocks for several listed companies. In 2011, he was found guilty of conspiracy and securities fraud, and was sentenced to a jail term of 11 years along with a penalty of $150 million. Indulging in insider trading, he made nearly $60 million, making it the largest hedge fund insider trading case in the history of US. Rajaratham revealed that he'd received tips from several people, including Rajat Gupta, who told him about Berkshire Hathaway's $5 billion purchase of Goldman Sachs' preferred stocks, before the move was made public. One of the other persons who tipped Rajaratham was Anil Kumar.
Anil Kumar
Kumar, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, and a co-founder of Indian School of Business with Rajat Gupta, was sentenced a two-years probation after he pleaded guilty and aided the government in the Rajarathan - Gupta conviction.
Niira Radia
A slew of fraudulent transactions unearthed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), and reported in 2013, had said that the transactions were linked, over and above New Silk Route, to Niira Radia, the infamous lobbyist, who, at one point, could boast of Tata Group and Reliance Industries as her biggest clients.
Radia's telephonic conversations tapped for 300 days by the Income Tax department, had led to a lot of controversies involving high profile persons like, former telecom minister A Raja, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, RIL's Mukesh Ambani; journalists like Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai.
Also read: Is dirty money the reason behind Sheena Bora murder?
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