Markets regulator Sebi has barred two individuals from the securities markets for three years and impounded illegal gains of over Rs 4.83 crore made by them for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme using out of the money (OTM) stock options to misappropriate funds from investors.
Apart from the securities market ban, the regulator also slapped a penalty of Rs 25 lakh each on Shivprasad Pattiya and Alkesh Narware and directed them them to pay the fine within 45 days, Sebi said in the order passed on Friday.
Further, Sebi directed Pattiya and Narware to disgorge unlawful gains worth Rs 4.83 crore with an interest of 12 per cent per annum jointly and severally from February 2022.
In the final order, Sebi found that the front entities had opened the trading accounts under the instructions of the operator group (Shivprasad Pattiya and Alkesh Narware) and these trading accounts and bank accounts were under the control of the operator group.
Sebi observed that the caller group had identified