Capital markets regulator SEBI has directed three entities to disgorge over ₹2.33 crore of ‘wrongful gains’ made by them by indulging in manipulative trading in the shares of Urja Global Ltd and Sampada Chemicals Ltd.
Chetan Dogra and Chetan Dogra HUF will jointly and severally disgorge about ₹2.15 crore of wrongful gains and Shraddha Entertainment Pvt Ltd will disgorge ₹18.05 lakh of wrongful gains, according to SEBI’s order passed on Monday.
The regulator ordered entities to disgorge the amount, along with an interest of 12 per cent per annum.
Besides, Chetan Dogra (noticee 1) and Chetan Dogra HUF (noitcee 2) have been barred from the securities market for a period of one year and Shraddha Entertainment Pvt Ltd has been banned for six months.
These directions come after SEBI found that these entities have violated PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) norms.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had conducted an investigation between October 2010 and March 2011 into the scrips of Urja Global and Sampada Chemicals.
During the investigation, it was found that noticees are connected entities and noticee 1 and noticee 2 had executed artificial and manipulative trades in the scrip of Urja by way of synchronized trades, reversal and self trades that led to the creation of artificial volumes in the trading of the scrip of Urja.
Further, it was noted that the three entities played an instrumental role in the price rise in the scrip of Sampada during the period of January to March 21, 2011, and have participated in 33.18 per cent of total such trading instances that led to the price rise in the scrip.
SEBI in its order said, “In my view, noticees did not conduct their trades as genuine investors of the securities market and rather were motivated by certain extra-commercial illicit intentions while trading in the shares of these two companies.”
Therefore, the watchdog concluded that the entities have executed manipulative trades in the scrip of Urja and Sampada with the intention to manipulate the market or to defeat its mechanism and thereby have violated the PFUTP norms.
Also, the regulator observed that these entities have made unlawful gain through their manipulative and unfair trades in the scrips of Urja and Sampada.