Sebi slaps Rs 65 lakh fine on 8 persons for fraud trade

Markets regulator Sebi today imposed a Rs 65 lakh fine on eight individuals for indulging in fraudulent trading in Inanna Fashion and Trends Ltd stock.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had conducted an investigation into trading in the scrips of Inanna Fashion (formerly known as Frontline Business Solutions Ltd) from June 2012 to April 2013.

It found that eight individuals had indulged extensively in synchronized trades, self-trades and positive last trading price contribution.

By indulging in manipulative trades, these entities not "only created artificial volume in the scrip but also gave a misleading appearance of trading in the scrip," the regulator noted.

"Thus I conclude that the noticees (these eight individuals) being related/connected with one another, had traded in the scrip in a manipulative manner and thus violated....the PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations warranting imposition of monetary penalty under... the Sebi Act," the regulator's adjudicating officer Sahil Malik said in an order.

Sebi has levied a fine of Rs 10 lakh each on -- Deepak Pandhurang Vikhape; Jinesh Devendra Bhatt; Pooja Jinesh Bhatt; Nagmeshwar Balraj Yellamelji; Kaushik Namji Maru -- and Rs 5 lakh each on Gunjan Ganpatdas Vaidya; Shriti Jinesh Bhatt and Mehul Ramesh Joshi.

A synchronised trade is a transaction wherein the buy and sell order quantities are identical, and are put through at exactly the same time on the trading platform, while orders that are matched on the exchange platform without change in ownership are considered as self-trades.

These are considered as manipulative market practices by Sebi.