Sebi slaps Rs 10 lakh on two individuals for fraudulent trading

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Friday slapped a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on two individuals for indulging in fraudulent trade practices in the matter of Global Infratech and Finance Ltd.

The fine has to be paid by Bhavin Pradyumna Pandya and Rakesh Natavarlal Bhatt jointly and severally, a Sebi order said.

The order came after Sebi conducted an investigation in the scrip of Global Infratech and Finance Ltd (GIFL) for the period December 2017 to February 2018.

The focus of the investigation was to ascertain whether there were any violations of the provisions of PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) rules relating to the trading in the scrip of GIFL.

The regulator observed that both individuals circulated SMS messages, while giving recommendations to buy the scrip of GIFL and further encouraged the recipients of the messages to read the purported research report for GIFL available at their website 'midcapmantra'.

Therefore, Sebi conclude that the noticees, being the owners of the said website had operated a campaign of circulating misleading and false bulk SMS messages pertaining to the scrip of GIFL by using the website to lure investors into buying the scrip of GIFL, which shows manipulative intent on the part of the noticees to defraud investors, the order said.

Meanwhile, in a separate order, Sebi imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on an individual for failure to comply with summons issued by the regulator in Bhakti Gems and Jewellery case.

The order came after Sebi conducted an investigation into the alleged circulation of stock tips/recommendations through mediums like website, SMS and Mobile numbers in the scrip of Bhakti Gems & Jewellery Ltd for the period December 2020 to April 2021.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)