SEBI has barred YouTuber Ravindra Balu Bharti’s stock market trading activities training company, Ravindra Bharti Education Institute, from the securities market and directed the influencer to deposit Rs 12 crore ‘unlawful gain’ it earned from alleged unregistered investment advisory business.
The company has been directed to deposit the amount in an interest-bearing escrow account in a nationalised bank.
The regulator has also barred Bharti, his wife Shubhangi Ravindra Bharti and directors — Rahul Ananta Gosavi and Dhanashri Chandrakant Gosavi, from the securities market. SEBI has also asked these individuals from associating themselves with any intermediary registered with the regulator in any capacity.
In its order, SEBI noted that Ravindra Bharti Education Institute was involved in imparting advice relating to investing in, purchasing, selling or otherwise dealing with insecurities or investment products in lieu of consideration, where investors were lured to take the advisory services by projecting returns in the range of 25-1,000 per cent.
Ravindra Bharti Education Institute, founded in 2016, was providing investment advisory services without obtaining registration from SEBI, which is in violation of regulatory norms, it said.
“An amount of Rs 12,03,82,130.91 being the total unlawful gain earned from the alleged unregistered investment advisory business, shall be impounded from Noticee no. 1 (Ravindra Bharti Education Institute),” SEBI said.
Further, these entities have been directed “to cease and desist from offering investment advisory services from acting as or holding themselves out to be investment advisors”.