Sebi bars 76 entities for tax manipulation

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday barred 76 entities from accessing the capital market for violating the stock exchange platform to evade taxes. Several entities manipulated the shares of BSE-listed firm Dhyana Finstock by way of fraudulent mobile text messages and websites. Investors were lured by such messages into buying shares of the Dhyana to provide an exit to shareholders who had been made preferential allotment in the company. Around 100 such investors had lodged complaints with exchanges and Sebi.

“It is observed that 39 preferential allottees made a collective profit of a Rs 107.43 crore on a collective investment of Rs 5.22 crore, a whopping return of approximately 2,060 per cent on their investment in a period of 20 months,” Sebi said in an order.

The regulator has called for further investigation and said the final order in the matter is pending.