YouTube scam: SEBI bars Arshad Warsi, wife from trading
What's the story
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has named actor Arshad Warsi, his wife Maria Goretti, and 44 others for doing share pump and dump through YouTube on Thursday.
The market regulator has barred all 46 people from accessing the markets for at least a year.
Warsi and his wife have also been penalized by the regulator in regard to the case.
Context
Why does this story matter?
A nexus of players have been accused by the market regulator of making illegal profits amounting to Rs. 41.85 crore. The list also includes the names of the Munnabhai M.B.B.S actor and his wife, who have been penalized for making gains worth lakhs of rupees individually.
The action was sought by the market regulator on Thursday morning, said reports.
Details
Warsi made gains worths lakhs in 2022
As per SEBI's calculations, the Bollywood actor made a gain of about Rs. 29.43 lakh whereas his wife, Goretti made a profit of Rs. 37.56 lakh. These gains were made by the couple during the period of April 27, 2022, to September 30, 2022, said the regulator.
Furthermore, SEBI has issued directives to retain the profits made by all the accused.
Action taken
A year's ban on accessing the markets
Taking further action against the accused, SEBI has put a year's ban on all of them from further accessing the market.
Adding more, media reports said that all the accused in the case, including the celebrity couple, have been asked by the market regulator to deposit the impounded amount in the bank in favor of SEBI within 15 days.
Complaint and allegations
Fake YouTube videos to attract investors were being uploaded: SEBI
The SEBI also alleged that certain entities were involved in price manipulation and offloading of shares. The complainants alleged that the accused were uploading YouTube videos with fake content to lure investors.
These videos were backed by heavily-paid marketing campaigns. Money was also spent on ads to attract viewers. SEBI said that the accused were making neat profits by dumping stock holdings.
The case
All about the share-rigging case
SEBI's action came in the wake of the share rigging case regarding two companies, namely the television channel, Sadhna Broadcast, and the Sharpline Broadcast Limited.
While the market regulator has issued an impounding order in regard to the Sadhna Broadcast share rigging case, an interim order has been issued by SEBI in the Sadhna Broadcast share manipulation case.