Dubious Connections of INX Media, Co-founded by the Mukerjeas

The Mukerjea couple have been accused of siphoning off investors’ money from INX Media, a company founded by them.

Indrani and Peter Mukerjea (Photo: PTI)

Murky financial details of INX Media – the company co-founded by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea – are emerging as the Sheena Bora murder case gets murkier. INX media, later renamed 9X Media, was founded in 2006. Various private equity players invested in the company during its early stages.

The company received funding from Singapore-based Temasek, Kotak Equity Fund, New Vernon, and New Silk Route.

Mukerjeas Exit in 2009

DNA reports that with mounting losses, INX Media ran into trouble in 2009. This led to the exit of the Mukerjeas. An audit by Temasek also reportedly found that the couple had siphoned off money.

New Silk Route (NSR) had initially invested in the group in 2007, but by 2010,  they were also looking to acquire the stakes of the other private equity investors – New Vernon, Kotak, and Temasek. These four investors had pledged $170 million for the company.

Connection with Rajat Gupta, Raj Rajaratnam

Incidentally, New Silk Route was founded by Rajat Gupta, Raj Rajaratnam, Anil Kumar, Victor Menezes, Parag Saxena, and Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, as the DNA article further notes.

Rajat Gupta, a former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, was sentenced to two years’ jail term in 2012 after he was convicted of insider trading and securities fraud. The other investor in New Silk Route – Raj Rajaratnam, a billionaire hedge fund manager was also convicted on charges of insider trading. He is serving a jail term of 11 years. The third investor Anil Kumar, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, was sentenced to two-years probation after he assisted the US government in the Rajaratnam-Gupta conviction.

For a murder case getting more sordid by the passing hour, these revelations of dubious financial dealings point to much more than what meets the eye.