SEBI imposes Rs 62 lakh fine on 6 entities for trading manipulation

22 Feb 2023 , 07:38 AM

Six entities were fined a combined total of Rs 62 lakh by the capital market regulator SEBI on Tuesday for engaging in dishonest trading activities in shares of North Eastern Carrier Company Ltd. (NECC). 

The regulator fined Utkarsh Jain, Vanya Jain, Sairabanu Mohd Rafiq Fanaswala, and Malatiben Ashokbhai Darji each Rs10 lakh, Charamsukh IT Marketing Rs7 lakh, and Realstep Agencies Rs15 lakh.

The directive was issued following a SEBI inquiry of NECC’s stock for the months of December 2016 to April 2017.

It was claimed that PFUTP (Prohibition Of Fraudulent And Unfair Trade Practices) regulations had been broken by Utkarsh, Vanya, Realstep, Fanaswala, Darji, and Charamsukh IT Marketing.

Utkarsh and Vanya sold shares and produced a false appearance of trading in the market for the days that such trading occurred, the regulator discovered after conducting an investigation.

The trades violated the rules of the market, harming the interests of legitimate investors who traded in NECC’s stock.

The related entities of Utkarsh and Vanya Jain, Charamsukh IT Marketing and Realstep, according to SEBI, assisted them in selling their shares and exiting the NECC scrip by placing buy orders in sufficient numbers and matching their buy order rates.

The regulator also discovered that Realstep, Fanaswala, and Darji contributed 14.06 percent of the market volume in the scrip to artificial activity in the shares of NECC by executing circular trades.

The entities have transgressed the PFUTP standards through such actions.

Separately, the regulator issued an order banning RB Traders and its owner Raj Bhadur Bhdoriya from the securities markets for a term of six months and fining them Rs8 lakh for providing unlicensed investment consulting services.

Additionally, they have been requested to return the money investors paid for these services. 

According to the regulator, they engaged in investment adviser operations without first registering with SEBI, which is against IA regulations.

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