Hindi film actor Arshad Warsi and his wife, former MTV VJ Maria Goretti.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has banned several entities, including Arshad Warsi, his wife Maria and other entities in a case related to uploading misleading videos on YouTube. Here's a look at what the issue is.
Here are the 10 points on the case that pertain to uploading misleading videos:
The ban has been imposed on 45 entities, including actor Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti, from participating in the securities market.
The decision comes after an investigation into allegations of share price manipulation by certain entities of two companies, Sharpline Broadcast Ltd. and Sadhna Broadcast Ltd., by uploading misleading videos on YouTube channels.
SEBI found that certain individuals uploaded these videos recommending investors buy shares of the two companies falsely claiming extraordinary profits.
The market regulator also discovered that videos with false content on channels 'The Advisor' and 'Moneywise' received more than 3 crore views. This false content was released to inflate share prices and Mr Warsi and others offloaded shares at inflated prices.
There were other videos, like the one where Sadhna Broadcast Ltd is moving from TV production to movie production, and a big American corporation has entered into a contract for Rs 1,100 crore to produce four devotional movies, where the money will be brought in by the American investor but the rights will remain with Sadhna.
In addition to Mr Warsi and and his wife Maria Goretti, some promoters of Sadhna Broadcasting Ltd. have also been restrained from participating in the securities market.
Along with the ban, SEBI has impounded illegal gains worth Rs 54 crore made by the entities by manipulating the investors. Two separate interim orders detail the investigation's findings.
All the entities have been directed not to dispose of any assets - movable or immovable - including the money lying in bank accounts, except with the prior permission of Sebi until the impounded amount is deposited in the escrow account.
According to the order, Mr Warsi made a profit of Rs 29.43 lakh, Maria Goretti earned a profit of Rs 37.56 lakh, and Iqbal Hussain Warsi made a gain of Rs 9.34 lakh. These three individuals, among others, have been classified as volume creators by SEBI.
After the ban, the actor tweeted that both he and his wife have ''zero knowledge of stocks'', adding that they had lost money in the market as well.
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