'Didn't abandon my wife and son': Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu responds to allegations of fraud

Zoho CEO and co-founder Sridhar Vembu refuted the allegations levelled against him by his estranged wife and said her claims are "complete fiction."

According to a Forbes report, Vembu's estranged wife Pramila Srinivasan, in a filing in a US court in January, alleged that Vembu abandoned her and their son with "special needs" and transferred shares of Zoho that the couple owned without taking her permission.

"My husband of 29 years abandoned me and his son with special needs in 2020....he decided to make fictitious transfers or 'sales' of our most valuable community asset to his family members without their paying any cash or other consideration, and without ever telling me or asking my permission," the filing read.

Vembu took to Twitter to respond to the allegations, saying he never transferred the shares in the company to anyone else.

In a detailed Twitter thread, he opened up about the tragedies he faced in his personal life while being successful in his professional life.

He said he decided to come out with a clarification because of the "vicious personal attacks" and character assassination he is being subjected to.

"This is a deeply painful personal thread. My personal life, in contrast to my business life, has been a long tragedy. Autism destroyed our lives and left me suicidally depressed. My wife Pramila and I were in this fight against autism for over 15 years. She is a super mom and her passionate cause is curing our son of autism. I worked hard along with her. To ensure his safety I also took some of his treatments so I could know what they did to him. Unfortunately the end of our marriage brought a new conflict. She is making unfounded allegations in court about my ownership interest in Zoho Corp and she has chosen to go to the press too. The matter is in court in the US, my filings are public," he wrote.

"I will say this unequivocally: I never ever transferred my shares in the company to anyone else. I lived in the US for the first 24 years of our 27 year history and much of what constitutes the company was built in India. That is reflected in the ownership. It is complete fiction to say I financially abandoned Pramila and my son. They enjoy a far richer life than I do and I have supported them fully. My US salary for the last 3 years has been with her, and I gave our house to her. Her foundation also is supported by Zoho," he wrote.

He alleged that his uncle Ram is responsible for this "mess".
"All of this mess was caused by my uncle Ram (my father’s younger brother) living in the US, who I gave shelter to due to his terminal cancer, taking out his own long running frustrations with my father. He is doing that by spreading malicious rumours about me and my siblings. My uncle described my father, his own elder brother; under oath as “my brother could not rub two nickels together” and that is how low he can get. Yes my father was poor but he is a proud man who never took anyone’s handout. My uncle was never part of our lives for decades."

"Sadly Pramila has chosen to trust my uncle Ram who still lives rent free at our home, due to her own frustration that she feels I abandoned the fight on autism. All I can say is that if I am not serving the causes and people I serve now, my will to live would have left me. I have endured vicious personal attacks before and I will endure this one too. I will continue to build institutions and capabilities in rural India, my only remaining purpose in life. My prayer is that someday my beloved son will join me here," he wrote.