CCD founder VG Siddhartha missing: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw seeks probe into 'stress' from private equity partner

Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha went missing from ​​​​​​Mangaluru on Monday night, following which a massive search operation has been initiated. Responding to the development on Tuesday, Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw took to Twitter and expressed concerns over the harassment from tax officers that the owner of the popular chain alleged in his emotional letter to the staff of his company, written on Sunday. 

Taking to Twitter, Shaw has highlighted at least a pair of key submissions made by VG Siddhartha - written about in the most operative part of his letter - where he opens up about the pressure that was placed on him by a private equity partner to buy back shares, as well as from other lenders, and also, his allegation of facing harassment from the DG IT attaching holdings which had the effect of blocking the sale of his Mindtree stock to engineering and construction conglomerate L&T. 

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw tweeted:

READ | Cafe Coffee Day Founder VG Siddhartha's Emotional Last Letter To Staff Before Going Missing: 'I Have Failed'

In another post, she picked up on the harassment allegation.

Here is the full letter by VG Siddhartha, written on July 27:

To our Board of directors and Coffee Day family, 

After 37 years, with strong commitment to hard work, having directly created 30,000 jobs in technology company where I have been a large shareholder since its founding. I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts. 

I would like to say I have given it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I have given up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares. A transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend. Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation. There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG income tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taken possession of our Coffee Day shares, although the revised returns have been filed by us. This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch.

I sincerely request each of you to be strong and to continue running these businesses with a new management. I am solely responsible for all mistakes. Every financial transaction is my responsibility. My team, auditors and senior management and totally unaware of all my transactions. The law should hold me and only me accountable, as I have withheld this information from everybody including my family.

My intention was never to cheat or mislead anybody. I have failed as an entrepreneur. This is my sincere submission. I hope someday you will understand, forgive and pardon me. 

I have enclosed a list of our assets and tentative value of each asset. As seen below our assets outweigh our liabilities and can help repay everybody.

CCD writes to the NSE:

CCD itself has written a letter to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) underscoring 'continuity of business' and that any update in the matter will be briefed. The statement released on July 30 stated the following:

"This is to inform you that Mr VG Siddhartha Chairman and Managing Director of Cafe Coffee Day Enterprises Limited has gone missing since yesterday evening. We are taking the help of concerned authorities. Company is professionally managed and led by competent leadership which will ensure continuity of business." 

How VG Siddhartha went missing

The founder of Cafe Coffee Day, VG Siddhartha, who is the son-in-law of former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna, was last seen near the Netravati river in Mangalore on Monday evening. 

As per details received so far from his driver's statement to police, Siddhartha left his Bengaluru residence with his driver at 11 am on Monday and enroute to his estate in Sakaleshpur, changed course to Mangalore. At 6:30 pm, near Mangalore, just 2 kms from where the Netravati river joins the sea, Siddhartha had the car stopped on a bridge, walked for a short while, asked his driver to park the car ahead and said he will join him after a short walk. The driver parked the car almost a kilometer away, and waited for Siddhartha for an hour. When he didn't return, he tried calling his mobile which was turned off. Panicking, the driver informed the family.  

Police search underway

Police investigation is underway with more than 200 policemen and divers carrying out searches for him. The deputy commissioner said that sniffer dogs have also been pressed into service. Meanwhile, ICGS Rajdoot has been tasked to patrol off the old Mangalore Port while maintaining a sharp lookout very close to the harbour mouth, while ICGS Savitribai Phule has been kept on standby. 

READ | Cafe Coffee Day Founder VG Siddhartha Missing, Driver Who He Travelled With Last Recounts What Happened