The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed popular YouTuber Ravindra Balu Bharti to return Rs 12 crore which has been termed by the Indian market regulator as ‘unlawful gains’.
Finfluencer Ravindra Balu Bharti is followed by over 2 million people online.
SEBI has asked Bharti to deposit the money in an interest-bearing escrow account and also banned him, his wife, Subhangi, from the securities market until further orders, reported Business Today.
The finfluencer was running the Ravindra Bharti Education Institute Pvt. Ltd. (RBEIPL) with his wife Shubhangi.
It was founded in 2016.
RBEIPL reportedly engages in educational activities related to stock market trading, operating via a website called “Bharti Share Market”, reported Business Today.
According to reports, RBEIPL was operating as an unregistered advisory and it was run by people not authorised to carry out the trade.
The entity and the finfluencer were allegedly promising exorbitant returns to people, touching up to 1000 percent.
“India’s capital market in the recent times has witnessed tremendous growth, characterised particularly by increasing participation of the common public based on investors’ confidence. This confidence in the capital market can be sustained largely by ensuring investors protection. Disclosure and transparency are the two pillars on which market integrity rests,” SEBI’s order read as quoted by Business Today.
“Guaranteed returns upto 1000% is a clear case of abuse of investors’ confidence in the securities market,” the order added.