'My Photos, Chats Shared Without Consent': Sacked Indian-Origin Zilingo CEO

Singapore-based fashion startup Zilingo had sacked Bose as CEO due to alleged financial irregularities.

Ankiti Bose.

(Photo: Instagram/Ankiti Bose)

Ankiti Bose, the Indian-origin businesswoman who was sacked last week as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Singapore-based fashion startup Zilingo, said on Friday, 27 May, that she had sought a protection order against a Twitter user, adding that her pictures, chats, and other documents had been accessed and shared without her consent.

"My personal photos, chats, documents, records may have all been improperly accessed and circulated without my consent and now I have seen versions of them on the internet which are clearly fake, but damaging nonetheless. I don't know who is doing this," Bose said in a post on Instagram.

She also said that her "apps were filled with hate messages" and "unfounded negative press," and that she could not unlock her phone without "choking up."

Background

Bose, who is also the co-founder of Zilingo, said on 20 May that she was informed of her termination of employment due to "insubordination," and called the situation a "witch hunt."

"I have been suspended for the last 51 days based on an anonymous whistle-blower complaint, and today I am informed that my employment has been terminated inter alia on grounds of 'insubordination'," she had said.

The company was founded in 2015 by Bose and Dhruv Kapoor, who is currently the chief technology officer of Zilingo Pte.

In a statement regarding Bose's removal, Zilingo had said, "Following an investigation led by an independent forensics firm that was commissioned to look into complaints of serious financial irregularities, the company has decided to terminate Ankiti Bose’s employment with cause, and reserves the right to pursue appropriate legal action," as per PTI.

Reacting to her suspension, Bose said that she had never seen reports regarding her termination, nor had she been given sufficient time to produce documents requested by the company.

She also said that she had been receiving "a constant barrage" of online threats against her and her family, adding that she would pursue her "rights against this witch-hunt to the full extent of the law."

(With inputs from PTI.)