Content creator Jason Samuel has denied cyberbullying the Tamil finance YouTuber known as "Finance with Harish", after social media reports of Harish's death led to online criticism of a video Samuel had posted days earlier.
Police are yet to register a case in connection with the death.
Father's allegation
V Harish, 27, ran the popular "Finance With Harish" brand on Instagram and YouTube. His father claims he was "targeted" by Samuel, CEO of venture studio Zemuria Inc, and says the stress drove him to take his own life.
He has demanded a police investigation. Harish's Instagram handle was disabled by Meta following Samuel's allegations, and he had since been posting on a new handle.
Samuel's Response
In a post on X on Tuesday, Samuel said he was "deeply saddened, heavily grieving, shocked and frozen" and mourned "the loss of life".
He wrote, "I have not cyber-bullied him", and said he had only pointed out the absence of a licence and authority.
In a later post he said he "never reached out/contacted, threatened, or asked for this".
Replying to a user who questioned his claims, he wrote that Harish "did give personalized financial advice, charged for the same", and urged people to watch the video. Past midnight, he added: "didn't want to pile on. the post is true."
The Allegations
Samuel's video of 17 October reportedly alleged that Harish gave personalised investment advice without the SEBI Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) licence required for it.
He also alleged that Harish misrepresented his credentials. Samuel said an AMFI ARN, the mutual fund distributor code, had been obtained only on 29 September.
He further claimed that Harish sold direct mutual funds, which he said also require an RIA licence.
Samuel said he asked Harish in the video to return "with a proper SEBI license".
Who Was Harish
Harish ran "Finance with Harish", a Tamil-language finance channel. Reports described him as one of Tamil Nadu's biggest finance creators, with 1.3 million Instagram followers.
He had recently shifted his focus towards fitness content.
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Divided Reaction
Some users blamed Samuel's video for the death. Others defended him, saying he was doing what many people, including SEBI, have been asking for.
The cause of death has not been confirmed by family or police.
Regulatory Backdrop
The row comes amid a wider crackdown on unregistered "finfluencers". SEBI has removed over 70,000 misleading online posts and accounts since October 2024.
A CFA Institute study reportedly found only 2% of finfluencers are SEBI-registered.
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