Action Against 15 Zee Business Experts For 'Unlawful Gains', Orders SEBI

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), on Thursday, issued an interim order directing multiple guest experts on Zee Business to refund Rs 7.41 crore due to suspected unlawful gains. The investigation, spanning from 1 February, 2022, to December 31, 2022, examined the connection between the trading activities and stock recommendations of these experts, as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India's interim order.

The market regulator has identified three categories of individuals: profit makers (who gained from alleged insider information); enablers (aiding profit makers); and guest experts (providing non-public information).

SEBI has taken action against 15 individuals, including Simi Bhaumik, Mudit Goyal, Himanshu Gupta, Ashish Kelkar, Kiran Jadhav, and more. These individuals, identified as guest experts, profit makers and enablers, have faced consequences for their involvement in unlawful trades. Some were directly engaged in these activities, while others played a facilitating role. SEBI's order on February 8 has resulted in several individuals being prohibited from trading until further notice.

The recent order is based on evidence showing connections among the 15 individuals involved. This evidence comes from various materials and checking their mobile phone details during a search and seizure operation. It includes: (a) showing links among them using materials and phone details, and (b) providing proof that guest experts shared information about stocks/contracts with profit makers before appearing on Zee Business.