- SEBI fined 18 entities Rs 2.8 crore for manipulating Retro Green Revolution Ltd shares
- Fifteen entities ordered to disgorge Rs 2.94 crore with 12% interest from 2021
- Manipulation involved trading among connected groups and Telegram stock tips
Sebi has levied penalties totalling Rs 2.8 crore on 18 entities as well as barred them from securities markets for up to five years for manipulating the share prices of Retro Green Revolution Ltd (RGRL).
Besides, the regulator has directed 15 of these entities to disgorge the total unlawful gains worth Rs 2.94 crore, along with 12 per cent interest per annum from December 31, 2021, till the date of payment.
The amount is to be deposited in Sebi's Investor Protection and Education Fund within 45 days.
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In its 61-page order passed on Tuesday, the regulator found that the entities were part of a premeditated scheme to artificially jack up the price of an illiquid scrip of RGRL and lure gullible investors.
Sebi observed that the scheme involved trading among connected entities to create artificial volumes in a thin stock, followed by circulating tips/ stock recommendations through a Telegram channel.
The noticees no 1 to 6, including Sanjay Arunkumar Choksi, had indulged in creating a misleading appearance of trading in the scrip as well as manipulated the price of the scrip, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in the order.
The markets watchdog noted that the Choksi Group, led by Sanjay Choksi, played a key role in the manipulation. Although Choksi was no longer the promoter of RGRL, the company continued to be controlled by him as all the statutory payments were being received from his account.
"I find that noticee no 1 (Choksi) did not act in good faith and exploited his influence in the company for personal gains.
"The rise in volume of shares in the otherwise illiquid scrip of RGRL and the telegram recommendation are indicators affecting the investment decision that sway the investors in trading in the scrip," Sebi's Quasi-Judicial Authority Santosh Shukla said in the order.
Shukla further stated that this case is fit to issue directions restraining the noticees (18 entities) from the securities market and imposing a monetary penalty on them to meet the ends of justice.
The entities enabled certain noticees to offload illiquid shares of RGRL to general public investors and thereby earning unlawful gains of a little over Rs 2.94 crore, as per the order.
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Accordingly, Sebi found that these 18 entities flouted the market norms and penalised them in the range of Rs 5-50 lakh.
The order came after Sebi conducted an investigation into the trading activities in the scrip of RGRL in which allegedly stock recommendations/tips were circulated through Telegram channel.
The investigation was conducted for the period September 1, 2020 till December 31, 2021 to ascertain whether there were violations of the provisions of Sebi's PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) rules.
Thereafter, Sebi issued a show cause notice on November 8, 2024, against the noticees for the alleged violations.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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