The SAT (Securities and Appellate Tribunal) granted an interim relief to actor Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti stating that the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) did not consider essential facts while pressing the order.
Earlier, SEBI banned Arshad Warsi and his wife, along with promoters of Sadhna Broadcast from securities market for running a ‘pump and dump’ scheme.
'Pump and dump' is a scheme that can manipulate to boost stock price via fake recommendations based on misleading, or exaggerated statements (pump). Operators sell the stock after price rises. As per SEBI, these activities are categorized as unfair fraudulent trade practices, which can significantly influence the Indian capital markets negatively.
According to SEBI’s assessment, actor Arshad Warsi made profits of Rs 29 lakh and his wife Maria Goretti made profits of Rs 38 lakh. It all started with Warsi uploading misleading videos on YouTube channels recommending investors to buy shares of the company. SEBI has found 45 YouTubers including Arshad guilty in the Share Pump and Dump scheme.
SAT bench, headed by the tribunal's chairperson Justice Tarun Agarwala, directed the couple to deposit 50 per cent of the alleged illegal gains in an escrow account. Setting aside SEBI's order, the tribunal said, “Investigations are still going on and the possibility of the appellants being involved in the manipulative scheme cannot be ruled out. However, at this stage, the impugned order is bereft of any evidence against the appellants requiring passing of such strong and harsh order.”
The ban, however, remains for trading in scrip of Sadhna Broadcast.
