Finfluencer Ravindra Bharti, who promised 1,000% returns, told to pay Rs 12 crore by Sebi

Ravindra Balu Bharti, a popular finfluencer with over 2 million followers, has been asked to return Rs 12 crore, which market regulator Sebi has termed as 'unlawful gains'.

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. Bharti was running the Ravindra Bharti Education Institute Pvt. Ltd. (RBEIPL), founded in 2016 with his wife, Shubhangi. 

RBEIPL reportedly engages in educational activities related to stock market trading, operating via a website called "Bharti Share Market". It is reported that the institute was fronting as an unregistered advisory and was being run be people who were not authorised for carrying out trades. 

The move against Bharti is part of Sebi's clampdown against finfluencers to safeguard investor interests and uphold market integrity. The regulator's action covers RBEIPL and several other individuals associated with the entity. 

The entity and the finfluencer were allegedly promising exorbitant returns, reaching up to 1000 per cent.

"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. 

"Guaranteed returns upto 1000% is a clear case of abuse of investors’ confidence in the securities market," the order added. 

The authorised person's office had found a novel way to get around a regulatory requirement, according to Sebi's investigating officials.

Bharti also runs a YouTube channel "Bharti Share Market Marathi" which has around 10 lakh subscribers and "Bharti Share Market - Hindi" with 8.22 lakh subscribers. These channels, previously platforms for financial advice, now face Sebi scrutiny. 

Investors were lured to take the advisory services by projecting returns in the range of 25% to 1000%. The investors who opt for such services were required to enter into an agreement, containing detailed terms and conditions of providing investment advisory services; fee to be paid
against availing investment advisory services, expected returns on investment made on the advisory of the Noticee no. 1, profit sharing percentage in case the returns exceed the expected returns etc.