Indian tech professional Soham Parekh has admitted to defrauding multiple US companies by simultaneously holding several full-time positions without disclosing his employment status. In an appearance on a TBPN show, Parekh confessed to misleading employers about both his location and work commitments, said a report by Mint.

He acknowledged: “I don’t think anyone enjoys working 140 hours a week, but I had to do it because of financial conditions.” 

Providing reasoning for his actions, he said, “I did what I had to do to get out of a tough situation. I was determined to change my situation, and I took action to help myself through it,” he added. 

While taking full responsibility for his actions, Parekh admitted: “I’m not proud of my actions,” and emphasised that the experience was something he neither wanted nor enjoyed. Addressing specific allegations that he employed junior developers under him to delegate work, Parekh refuted the claim, stating, “That’s simply not true.”

The controversy gained traction after Suhail Doshi, Co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, publicly called out Parekh in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), branding him a “scammer.” Doshi claimed that Parekh had briefly worked at one of his companies the previous year but was let go within a week after the alleged misconduct came to light. He wrote that he had warned Parekh about moonlighting but said the warning “clearly didn’t work,” as Parekh allegedly continued to hold multiple roles across different start-ups.

More than six start-up founders have since come forward, accusing Parekh of accepting employment at their companies while working remotely from India, without revealing that he was already employed elsewhere. Each of them said they had to terminate his employment upon discovering this misconduct.