Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi is among dozens of people who have been barred from trading on the Indian stock market. According to the market regulator, the decision was made after an investigation into allegations of price manipulation by the actor.
It claimed that videos on four YouTube channels were used to inflate the value of certain stocks. Arshad Warsi, who is involved in the case with his wife, has denied the allegations.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in its investigation that the YouTube channels The Advisor and Moneywise, which are owned by influencer Manish Mishra, used celebrities to recommend stocks of two companies for the Indian stock market to retail investors.
Similar videos have been shared on the Midcap calls and Profit Yatra channels. The videos spread inaccurate and disinformation about Sharpline Broadcast and Sadhna Broadcast, instilling fear in viewers.
According to SEBI, its inquiry found that these channels had hundreds of thousands of subscribers and that their videos were viewed by millions of people thanks to paid marketing campaigns.
Profits were made by entities involved in price manipulation by selling their own shares at high prices.
The market regulator said it has seized nearly 540 million rupees ($6.5 million, £5.4 million) in illegal gains made by people and entities involved in the scam.
Warsi made a profit of 2.9 million rupees, and his wife Maria Goretti made a profit of 3.7 million rupees, according to SEBI.
Warsi tweeted on Thursday that he and Goretti had “zero” knowledge of the stock market and had “lost our hard-earned money” after investing in shares on the advice of a third party.
According to the newspaper Mint, the videos are no longer publicly available on YouTube but are on SEBI’s records.
