Sebi slaps Rs 3.5 lakh fine on 5 individuals in Alchemist case

Market regulator Sebi today slapped a total fine of Rs 3.5 lakh on five individuals for their role in alleged fraudulent trading practices in the shares of Alchemist.

In five separate orders, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has imposed a penalty of Rs one lakh on Govindji Gupta, Rs 75,000 each on Nitin Chadha and Anjani Kumar and Rs 50,000 each on Rajeev Gupta and Naresh Gupta.

The regulator has slapped fine for violating regulations related to Sebi's Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices.

The case related to matter way back in 200. All five individuals were allegedly executed 'self trades' in the scrip leading to creation of false and misleading appearance of trading in the scrip, which is fraudulent in nature.

Self trades are trades in which both the buyer and the seller are the same entity resulting in no change in beneficial ownership.

A Sebi conducted probe found that shares of Alchemist opened at Rs 65.35 on July 17, 2008 and closed at Rs 84.15 on September 30, 2008 after touching high of Rs 102.35.

The regulator observed that five individuals purchased shares on a particular day and offloaded them on the same day which lead to appearance of fictitious trades.