Paytm exec, accused of blackmail, gets ESOPs

TNN

Bengaluru: Former Paytm vice-president Sonia Dhawan, accused of

data theft

and

blackmail

, is one of the beneficiaries of

employee stock option plans

(ESOPs) given by India’s largest mobile payments company. According to two sources and filings made with the corporate affairs ministry, over half a dozen employees have been allotted

ESOPs

.

Dhawan, who is on bail since March, has joined women-focused community platform

Sheroes

as director (communications). “There has been a lot of misunderstanding and confusion, which is getting sorted. I am innocent and I expect the court case to conclude in the coming time,” Dhawan said in a statement. Sheroes counts Paytm founder

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

as one of the angel investors, besides Flipkart’s Binny Bansal and outgoing Google India chief

Rajan Anandan

.

Sheroes founder and CEO

Sairee Chahal

confirmed the development, saying that Dhawan joined the company a week ago. Chahal also sits on the board of Paytm Payments Bank. Reports in March said that Dhawan was rejoining Paytm. But Paytm had denied this.

A total of 35,434 shares have been allotted in the company at an exercise price of Rs 90 a unit to executives including Nitin Misra, Deepak Abbot and Sudhanshu Gupta.

A Paytm spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by TOI.

Dhawan will work with external startups and technology companies to offer public relations, brand-building and agency work at Sheroes. Sheroes is a platform like Reddit for women where they can search for interest groups and discuss their problems, besides job and business opportunities.

While the case against Dhawan, her husband Rupak Jain, and Paytm employee Devendra Kumar was filed by Sharma, her lawyers had reportedly said that she was a victim of internal rivalry.

Sharma had also said that Dhawan may have been a pawn of someone else’s plan in a statement to The Economic Times. “I believe Sonia is a conduit of someone else’s bigger plan,” Sharma had told ET in October. “I don’t know how many more people were involved in this sad conspiracy. I am shocked and surprised at things that happened and some claims or theories being pitched. I am sure with support of police and everyone involved we will uncover the details soon.”