Mumbai, May 23 (IANS). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has accused seven people from a family of using social media platforms to influence small investors and make illegal profits by buying shares before they were recommended to the public.
SEBI’s interim enforcement order said that seven members of the family were manipulating shares by spreading stock market-related tips through platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp and Xpress.
It is alleged that these people used to buy shares listed on the SME platform in advance and later share the recommendations of those shares on a large scale on social media. According to SEBI, these people initially earned ill-gotten profits of about Rs 20.25 crore.
“These persons prima facie engaged in fraudulent, market manipulation and unfair trading activities. They issued recommendations with the intention of artificially increasing the price of shares and made profits in a total of 82 shares during the investigation period,” the SEBI order said.
SEBI found suspicious trading patterns related to promotional posts, especially in stocks with low liquidity.
The market regulator conducted the search and seizure operation between January 21 and January 24, 2026, after getting the court’s permission. During this, electronic devices were seized and statements of the accused were recorded under oath.
SEBI examined the period from December 1, 2023 to January 20, 2026. The investigation found that the total gross trade value of the seven people increased from Rs 548.62 crore earlier to Rs 1,023.40 crore during the investigation period, which represents an increase of about 86 per cent.
The regulator also claimed that the total square-off profit of these people increased from Rs 17.06 crore to Rs 58.40 crore, an increase of 242 per cent.
SEBI has named Rohan Gupta and Sharon Gupta as among the biggest beneficiaries. Together they reportedly earned a profit of around Rs 50 crore.
During the investigation, such evidence has also been found which shows that the accused were aware that SEBI was taking strict action against small scale operators and they were apprehensive that they too might be caught by SEBI.
–IANS
DBP
