New
Delhi:
Sebi
on
Thursday
barred
45
entities,
including
actor
Arshad
Warsi,
his
wife
Maria
Goretti
and
others,
from
the
securities
market
in
cases
related
to
manipulating
the
share
prices
of
two
companies
through
uploading
misleading
videos
on
YouTube
channels.
The
cases
pertains
to
uploading
misleading
videos
on
YouTube
channels
and
recommending
investors
to
buy
the
shares
of
Sadhna
Broadcast
Ltd
and
Sharpline
Broadcast
Ltd.
Apart
from
the
couple,
some
of
the
promoters
of
Sadhna
Broadcast
have
been
restrained
from
the
securities
market
for
their
involvement.
In
addition
to
market
ban,
the
regulator
has
impounded
illegal
gains
to
the
tune
of
Rs
54
crore
made
by
the
entities
after
misleading
videos
were
uploaded
on
YouTube
channels,
according
to
two
separate
interim
orders.
In
the
case
of
Sadhna
Broadcast,
Sebi
noted
that
Arshad
Warsi
has
made
a
profit
of
Rs
29.43
lakh
and
his
wife
has
earned
profit
of
Rs
37.56
lakh.
Also,
Iqbal
Hussain
Warsi
has
gained
Rs
9.34
lakh.
These
three
among
others
have
been
classified
as
volume
creators
by
the
capital
markets
regulator.
The
two
orders
came
after
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Board
of
India
(Sebi)
received
certain
complaints
wherein
it
was
alleged
that
there
was
price
manipulation
and
offloading
of
shares
by
certain
entities
in
the
scrip
of
television
channel
Sadhna
Broadcast
and
New
Delhi-based
Sharpline
Broadcast.
The
complaints
alleged
that
misleading
YouTube
videos
with
false
content
about
the
two
companies
were
uploaded
to
lure
investors.
Following
this,
the
regulator
conducted
an
examination
during
April-September
2022
and
found
that
spurt
in
the
price
and
volume
of
scrip
of
the
two
companies
between
April
and
mid-July
2022.
During
the
second
half
of
July
2022,
false
and
misleading
videos
about
Sadhna
were
uploaded
on
two
YouTube
channels
-
The
Advisor
and
Moneywise.
Similar
videos
about
Sharpline
were
also
uploaded
on
two
YouTube
channels-
Midcap
calls
and
Profit
Yatra
in
the
second
half
of
May
last
year.
These
YouTube
videos
peddled
false
and
misleading
news
to
recommend
that
investors
should
buy
shares
of
Sadhna
and
Sharpline
for
extraordinary
profits,
Sebi
said
in
its
two
separate
interim
orders.
Subsequent
to
the
release
of
the
misleading
YouTube
videos,
there
was
an
increase
in
the
price
and
trading
volume
of
the
scrip
of
two
firms.
The
volumes
appear
to
have
been
contributed
by
a
large
number
of
retail
investors
likely
influenced
by
the
misleading
YouTube
videos.
During
this
period,
certain
promoter
shareholders,
key
management
personnel
of
Sadhna,
and
non-promoter
shareholders
offloaded
a
significant
part
of
their
holdings
at
inflated
prices
and
booked
profits.
One
of
the
misleading
videos
on
these
YouTube
channels
was
that
Sadhna
Broadcast
Ltd
is
going
to
be
taken
over
by
Adani
group
and
after
the
deal,
the
margins
of
the
company
will
increase.
In
addition,
there
were
other
videos
like
the
company
is
moving
from
TV
production
to
movie
production
and
a
big
American
corporation
has
entered
into
a
contract
for
Rs
1,100
crore
to
produce
four
devotional
movies
where
the
money
will
be
brought
in
by
the
American
investor
but
the
rights
will
remain
with
Sadhna
and
in
one
of
the
videos,
apparently
a
pic
of
industrialist
Gautam
Adani
can
be
seen.
Sebi
has
classified
these
entities
into
categories
like
-
creator
of
YouTube
channels
(Manish
Mishra),
net
sellers/
promoters
and
profit
makers
(NSs),
volume
creators
(VCs)
and
information
carriers
(ICs).
Sebi
noted,
prima
facie,
these
entities
collectively
helped
create
trading
volumes
and
interest
in
the
scrip,
spread
false
and
misleading
YouTube
videos,
and
hence
induced
investors
to
buy
the
companies
scrips
at
elevated
prices,
thereby
prima
facie
violating
the
provisions
of
PFUTP
(Prohibition
of
Fraudulent
and
Unfair
Trade
Practices)
rules.
Collectively,
NSs
and
some
of
the
VCs
have
booked
extraordinary
profits
as
a
result
of
this
scheme.
In
the
case
of
Sadhna,
Sebi
said
that
elaborate
modus
operandi
adopted
by
the
entities
noticees
including
the
egregious
misuse
of
patently
false
and
misleading
YouTube
videos,
had
led
to
drastic
increase
in
the
number
of
small
shareholders
-
from
2,167
to
55,343
shareholders
who
ended
up
buying
shares
from
the
noticee
net
sellers
and
volume
creators
at
inflated
price,
while
small
shareholders
number
shot
up
from
517
to
20,009
in
the
case
of
Sharpline.
Accordingly,
the
regulator
has
barred
these
45
entities
"from
buying,
selling
or
dealing
in
securities
either
directly
or
indirectly,
in
any
manner
whatsoever
until
further
orders".
Some
of
these
entities
were
involved
in
both
cases.
Also,
all
the
entities
have
been
directed
not
to
dispose
of
any
assets,
whether
movable
or
immovable
including
money
lying
in
bank
accounts
except
with
the
prior
permission
of
Sebi
until
the
impounded
amount
is
deposited
in
the
escrow
account.