Sadhana Broadcast: Sebi bans actor Arshad Warsi, 58 others from markets for up to 5 years
New Delhi, May 29 (PTI): Sebi on Thursday barred Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi, his wife Maria Goretti, and 57 other entities from the securities markets for periods ranging from 1-5 years in a case related to misleading videos on YouTube channels recommending investors to buy shares of Sadhana Broadcast.
The regulator imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on Warsi and his wife Maria.
Sebi also levied penalties in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 5 crore on 57 other entities, including promoters of Sadhana Broadcast (now Crystal Business System Ltd).
Apart from the debarment, Sebi also directed these entities to disgorge total unlawful gains of Rs 58.01 crore along with 12 per cent interest per annum from the end of the investigation period till the date of actual payment.
Sebi noted that Arshad Warsi had made a profit of Rs 41.70 lakh and his wife earned a profit of Rs 50.35 lakh.
In the final order, Sebi found that the masterminds behind this whole operation were Gaurav Gupta, Rakesh Kumar Gupta and Manish Mishra. Subhash Aggarwal, who also happened to be a director of the RTA of Sadhana Broadcast Ltd (SBL), acted as the go between Manish Mishra and the promoters, the order stated.
These individuals were the central characters who planned and executed the manipulative scheme, Sebi said.
Further, the regulator observed that Peeyush Agarwal and Lokesh Shah who facilitated accounts controlled by them to be used for the manipulative designs of Manish Mishra and the promoters of SBL.
The former was a dealer at Choice and the latter the owner of the Delhi franchise of the stockbroker. They were both vital cogs who facilitated large scale manipulation in the scrip.
Similarly, Jatin Shah played a leading role in operationalising the scheme, while other entities have facilitated the manipulative designs or were in it to make a quick buck, the order said.
As per the 109-page order, Sebi said noticees (entities) have acted as information carriers or assisted in placing the manipulative trades, but not traded in the scrip from their own accounts.
Sebi said carefully structured scheme executed in two coordinated phases. In the first phase, connected and promoter-linked entities executed trades among themselves to steadily inflate the price of the scrip and create a false appearance of market interest.
These trades though often small in volume had a disproportionate impact on price due to low liquidity, allowing the perpetrators to push the scrip upward with relatively minimal trading outlay.
In the second phase of the scheme misleading and promotional videos were disseminated across YouTube channels such as Moneywise, The Advisor, and Profit Yatra, all operated by Manish Mishra, the order said.
These videos presented SBL as a promising investment opportunity and were timed to coincide with and amplify artificial market activity, it added.
The order came after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) received complaints from the during the period July to September 2022, alleging that there was price manipulation and subsequent offloading of shares in the scrip of SBL.
It was also stated in the complaints that YouTube videos were being uploaded with false content to lure investors and a paid marketing campaign worth crore was undertake to make the videos reach a wider audience.
An interim order was passed by the regulator on March 2, 2023 was passed against 31 entities.
Thereafter, Sebi conducted a detailed investigation into the alleged manipulation in the scrip of SBL for the period from March 8, 2022 to November 30, 2022.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
