The Apprentice star Raj Dhonota has shed light on the toll malicious claims took on him.
Kent-born Raj, 49, starred in the first-ever series of the BBC gameshow which sees entrepreneurs battle it out to land a business deal with Lord Alan Sugar. But almost two decades on, Raj admits he’s only ever seen four episodes of the entire show – the opening four of his series.
After two decades in business, he’s battled bankruptcy, reality telly fame and also malicious claims of fraudulent behaviour which almost cost him his businesses. Back in 2001, Raj was declared bankrupt for the first time, four years before he sat opposite Lord Sugar and alongside now advisor, Tim Campbell.
Since then, he’s gone on to run multi-million-pound businesses and also inspired thousands of fellow entrepreneurs across the nation. In 2020, Raj found himself back in financial troubles caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Staff at one of his companies Igniva Solutions went unpaid, while founders of startup firms were left out of pocket because of his other company, Preseed Investments.
This resulted in claims of fraudulent behaviour, which saw Raj become the centre of a year-long investigation by the Metropolitan Police before he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Speaking about the case, Raj said: “For someone who has worked in business for over 20 years, made tens of millions over this time and built a positive reputation, false claims of fraud were the hardest to deal with.
“It destroys decades of work in minutes. At a time when people were making fraud claims, I was putting everything on the line trying to save the business. When the claims started to be made to me personally, I actively encouraged anyone concerned with any wrongdoing to file a complaint for the police to investigate.
“The toll of false claims of fraud would have been immense with no way to prove my innocence, so I was delighted when the police contacted me regarding the investigation.” The businessman who is planning on expanding to the States continued: “I was never fearful of the outcome because I had done nothing wrong and I was 100% confident my name would be cleared.
“The only frustration was that it took nearly a year to complete. I was ecstatic when I was informed that the investigation had ended – not because of the outcome because I knew I would be cleared, but because I had independent verification that there was no wrongdoing. Without the police investigation, I would have been marred for the rest of my life. “
But having faced a second bankruptcy after Covid, Raj admits he’s been a “high-risk taker” in business and often accepts setbacks along the way. He commented: “I could have avoided the bankruptcy by protecting my personal assets but I felt I had a moral obligation to do what I could to save the investment portfolio and so put everything on the line.
“I knew what the risks were. When the bankruptcy happened it gave me an opportunity to reset and of course, the chance to go again. History is littered with entrepreneurs who were made bankrupt and then went on to be hugely successful. Bankruptcy was not the end of the road for me and I have always come back stronger from setbacks, and expect to do the same again. “
Having overcome his setbacks, Raj is once again setting his sights on the international markets and heading over to America, joking he “doesn’t know hot to do anything else” and will happily accept a challenge that is thrown at him. The businessman says he’s often “excited” when he’s faced with either launching a new business or growing an already established business.
This time around, Raj has joined forces with his wife to launch a tech company in the States. He said: “My wife’s business has been immensely successful despite all the challenges that followed Covid and is earning nearly £1 million a year. I’m super excited to be entering the last phase of my journey which is to launch a tech business in the US. I feel the very best days are yet to come despite all the success I’ve had to date.”
The Apprentice airs Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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