From Avadhut Sathe To Asmita Patel: Top Finfluencers Under SEBI Scanner

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has intensified its scrutiny of "finfluencers" — individuals who offer financial advice or investment tips via social media platforms. This was due to growing concerns over unregistered advisory services and alleged market manipulation.

Here are a few finfluencers that have been under SEBI's scanner:

The most recent finfluencer that was under the scanner was Avadhut Sathe. SEBI conducted a search operation at the trading academy of Avadhut Sathe, a prominent finfluencer. The operation, which began early on Aug. 20, lasted over 10 hours. Sathe is under the radar of the SEBI for unregistered advisory services. The Illegal gains from his operations are likely to be in the range of Rs 400-500 crore, NDTV Profit has learned.

SEBI, earlier this year, banned popular YouTube finfluencer Asmita Patel along with six others for running illegal advisory schemes, with the regulator aiming to recover over Rs 53 crore in ill-gotten gains and an additional Rs 104 crore remains in question. SEBI has directed Patel, her firm Asmita Patel Global School of Trading Pvt. along with Jitesh Jethalal Patel, King Traders, Gemini Enterprises and United Enterprises to return over Rs 53 crore that was collected as course fees.

In 2023, one of the biggest finfluencers who was invited as guest speaker by premium institutions like Indian Institute of Technology and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Abhishek Kar also came under the SEBI scanner. He was alleged to have charged high fees for courses while hiding his actual trading losses from his followers.

Hyderabad-based finfluencer, Mohammad Nasiruddin Ansari, also known as 'Baap of Chart', was accused of luring investors with misleading statements and providing unregistered investment advisory services. In 2023, he was barred from participating in securities markets and required to disgorge about Rs 17.2 crore.

Chennai-based options trader PR Sundar, who was barred from trading for over a year in 2023, was also among the finfluencers under the SEBI scanner. He was required to pay Rs 46.8 lakh, plus disgorgement of Rs 6 crore (including interest), for offering investment advice without SEBI registration. The action was taken after multiple complaints that claimed Sundar was running a website through which he offered packages to provide investment advice.