In 109-page order, SEBI bans Bollywood actor, his wife and 57 entities from stock market
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has banned Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi, his wife
Maria Goretti
, and 57 others from the securities markets for periods ranging from one to five years, reports news agency PTI. In a detailed 109-page final order issued on Thursday - May 29,
SEBI
barred a total of 59 individuals and entities from the stock market for periods ranging from one to five years. The regulator imposed penalties ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 5 crore on various parties, including promoters of Sadhna Broadcast.
Apart from the market bans and penalties, SEBI has directed all 59 entities to return a total of Rs 58.01 crore in unlawful gains. Additionally, the regulator has imposed 12% annual interest from the end of the investigation period until the actual date of repayment.
As per the report, Arshad Warsi reportedly made Rs 41.70 lakh in profit, while Maria Goretti earned Rs 50.35 lakh.
YouTube-based pump-and-dump scheme
According to SEBI, the manipulation was carried out in two planned phases. In the first phase, trades were executed among connected and promoter-linked entities to artificially inflate the price of Sadhna Broadcast shares. These trades created the illusion of strong market interest despite low trading volumes.
In the second phase, false and promotional videos were circulated on YouTube channels like Moneywise, The Advisor, and Profit Yatra, all operated by Manish Mishra.
These videos painted Sadhna Broadcast as a strong investment opportunity, coinciding with the inflated trading activity to attract unsuspecting retail investors.
'The overall conduct of the noticees has revealed a classic pump-and-dump scheme. The price was systematically pushed upward through collusive trading, followed by aggressive promotional activity to draw in retail investors, and finally, a coordinated sell-off by the promoters,' SEBI whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia said in the order.
Key players named in Sadhna Broadcast fraud
The order names Gaurav Gupta, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, and Manish Mishra as the masterminds behind the operation. Subhash Aggarwal, a director at the registrar and transfer agent (RTA) of Sadhna Broadcast, acted as the link between Mishra and the company's promoters.
Further, Peeyush Agarwal and Lokesh Shah — a dealer at Choice Broking and owner of its Delhi franchise, respectively — were found to have facilitated trades through accounts under their control to support the manipulation. Jatin Shah was identified as playing a key role in executing the scheme.
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