 "Sebi penalises 15 firms for manipulating Parichay Investments stock prices")
Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday levied fines totalling Rs 1.15 crore on 15 entities for manipulating the share price of Parichay Investments Ltd (PIL).
The regulator imposed fines in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh on 15 entities.
The order came after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in its ruling in August sent the matter back to Sebi to decide the matter afresh.
Earlier, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had conducted an investigation in the trading in the scrip of PIL during July 2010 to August 2011.
Pursuant to probe, it was alleged that a group of 63 connected entities referred to as 'Soni Group' were dealing in the shares of several companies and had contributed to the price and volume.
Their trading pattern was analysed and it was observed that 'Soni Group' had traded in 266 scrips and out of them in five scrips (including PIL) their trades accounted for 20 per cent or more during July-October, 2010.
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Out of the 63 entities constituting the 'Soni Group', the 18 entities were observed to have traded in the scrip of PIL and prima facie found to have violated the legal provisions of PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices).
The present adjudication proceedings have been initiated with respect to 15 entities out of the 18 entities.
Sebi's Adjudicating Officer G Ramar said that by "indulging in the manipulative trades, the noticees had created artificial volume in the scrip and manipulated the price which gave a misleading appearance of trading in the scrip".
Through such trading activities, the entities have violated the provisions of PFUTP norms, he added.
Meanwhile, in a separate order, the regulator imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on two entities for violating regulatory norms in the matter of Findoc Investmart and Findoc Commodities.
The order came after Sebi along with officials of BSE, NSE, NSDL, NCDEX, ICEX and MCX, conducted a comprehensive joint inspection of Findoc Investmart Pvt Ltd and Findoc Commodities with regard to their stock broking and depository participants activities for the period from April, 2020 to July, 2021.
In another order, the regulator slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh on an entity for violating market norms in the matter of Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
The order came after Sebi conducted an inspection of the books of accounts and other records of Bonanza Portfolio Ltd for the period from April 2020 to July 2021.