SEBI Cracks Down On Self-Proclaimed 'She Wolf Of The Stock Market'
SEBI has targeted Asmita Patel and her trading school for operating without proper authorisation, impacting numerous investors.
The market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, on Thursday cracked down on Asmita Patel, a self-proclaimed 'She Wolf' of the stock market, her trading school, its other director, and three proprietary firms for working as an illegal investment advisory firm under the guise of investor education.
The regulator has also impounded an amount of Rs 53.6 crore that was taken as illegal investment advisory fees.
After observing that the Asmita Patel Global School of Trading Private Limited has been giving stock recommendations through Telegram, Zoom meetings, emails, and some educational courses, the regulator decided to examine the issue. The regulator also received 42 complaints against the investor education platform.
The trading school is called the Asmita Patel Global School of Trading Private.
Limited offered several courses, including Master’s in Price Action Trading (MPAT), Let’s Make India Trade (LMIT), Options Multiplier (OM), Trend Following Income System (TFIS), The Freedom Project (TFP), OneLife, and Unleash The Trader Within (UTW).
Meanwhile, the three proprietary firms—King Traders, Gemini Enterprise, and United Enterprises—were allegedly also involved in the issue, as some complainants alleged to have sent the course fees into their account.
Notably, Asmita Patel also has a significant social media presence on platforms such as YouTube (5.26 lakh), Instagram (2.9 lakh followers), Facebook (73,000 followers), LinkedIn (1,900 followers), and Twitter (4,200 followers).
In the entire scheme of things, Asmit would assure investors of guaranteed future returns of over 40% in a year in her masterclass. She would also make claims that the fees paid for the courses would also be recovered from the stock advice.
Thereafter, participants paid hefty sums of money but ended up incurring severe losses. This was all being done without any SEBI authorisation.
The amount of investment made by complainants in their trading accounts ranged from Rs 20 thousand to Rs 35 lakh.
The regulator, in its order, has directed Asmita, her trading school, and its director to cease and desist from providing any investment advisory and from working towards any unregistered or fraudulent activity.
"Noticees are directed to immediately withdraw and remove all websites, advertisements, representations, literatures, videos, brochures, materials, publications, documents, communications, etc. in relation to the unregistered investment advisory and research analyst services activity, until further orders," the SEBI order read.
