ConsenSys Sues Former Investment Head, Alleging Resume Fraud

Ethereum backer ConsenSys has filed suit against the erstwhile caput of its task superior arm, Kavita Gupta, for resume fraud. The ailment comes 2 weeks aft Gupta filed a ailment successful New York authorities tribunal saying the steadfast owes her wealth for her enactment successful starting ConsenSys Ventures.

In its ailment filed successful a Delaware tribunal connected Monday, ConsenSys alleged that Gupta induced the institution to prosecute her "by claiming to person stellar qualifications" that turned retired to beryllium fraudulent. The suit claims credentials from Harvard Business School, MIT and The World Bank were fabricated.

ConsensSys alleged successful the ailment that Gupta lacked the skills to negociate a task money and that "her toxic and abusive personality" caused the steadfast to suffer employees and concern opportunities.

In a telephone interrogation with CoinDesk, Gupta said that she volition beryllium filing an expanded mentation of her Dec. 31 complaint, successful which she asked for damages of astatine slightest $30 million.

Gupta described ConsenSys's efforts arsenic an effort to "just truly instrumentality distant my reputation" and "a nationalist mockery." She disputed ConsenSys's characterizations, saying she had been mistreated and that investors successful her existent money had been founders successful ConsenSys Ventures. "I'm disputing everything," she said.

In its Jan. 10 complaint, ConsenSys said that erstwhile the steadfast pressed her, Gupta could not verify her credentials and "resorted to lying – adjacent going truthful acold arsenic to forge documents – to conceal her fraud."

In the suit, ConsenSys said that it allowed Gupta to resign alternatively of firing her and "offered to let Gupta to support the compensation paid and accrued during her abbreviated tenure," but that Gupta had rejected the connection – alternatively demanding that ConsenSys "pay her millions of dollars" to bargain retired a "purported equity interest" successful the firm.

ConsenSys has asked the tribunal to state that Gupta "is not entitled to immoderate equity oregon different compensation" and that she disgorge the $600,000 successful wage and bonuses the steadfast paid her.

Gupta's lawyer, Peter Cane, said that ConsenSys would alternatively "destroy Kavita's estimation than wage her for making them much than $300 million."

Said Cane successful a telephone interview: "Why would they beryllium making these allegations for the archetypal clip successful 2022?"