Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed penalties aggregating ₹2.15 crore on 15 individuals and entities for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme involving misleading YouTube videos, manipulative trading and disclosure violations in the shares of Decillion Finance Ltd (DFL).
The market regulator found that false and misleading investment recommendations circulated through the YouTube channel ‘Stock Yatra’ induced investors to trade in the stock, while connected entities exited their holdings at inflated prices.
The entities penalised are: Abhay Dwivedi, Anshu Mishra, Manish Mishra, Ankur Sharma, Vivek Chauhan, Dipak Dwiwedi, Neetu Dwivedi, Pallavi, Amrit Pal Singh, Srivani Merchants Pvt Ltd, Gangadhar Dealers Pvt Ltd, Torner Tie Up Pvt Ltd, Latangi Vyapaar Pvt Ltd, Sri Salasar Suppliers Pvt Ltd and Gaurav Jaiswal.
According to SEBI's adjudication order, the investigation covered the period from 20 October 2022 to 14 February 2023, during which the price of Decillion Finance shares surged from ₹22.55 to ₹95.10 before falling sharply. The regulator found that two YouTube videos uploaded on 1 January and 14 January 2023 contained false claims, including an alleged joint venture with Bajaj Finance, investments by mutual funds and foreign institutional investors (FIIs), and ambitious price targets of ₹500 in three months and ₹2,000 within a year. The company later clarified that these claims were false and had no connection with it.
SEBI's investigation traced the YouTube uploads to Abhay Dwivedi and Anshu Mishra and identified Manish Mishra and his associates as actively involved in creating and promoting the misleading videos. The regulator also found that members of the Manish Mishra group accumulated shares before the videos were circulated and substantially exited their positions after the misleading content attracted fresh investors into the stock.
The order notes that the misleading videos led to increased trading volumes and attracted new investors, despite there being no positive corporate announcements from Decillion Finance during the relevant period. SEBI concluded that the videos disseminated false and misleading information, thereby fraudulently inducing investors to trade in the scrip and violating the provisions of the SEBI Act and the Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (PFUTP) Regulations.
Separately, SEBI found that Gaurav Jaiswal manipulated the last traded price (LTP) of the stock by repeatedly placing small buy orders despite the availability of large sell orders, thereby creating a misleading appearance of trading activity and artificially influencing the stock price.
The regulator also held that several shareholders failed to make mandatory disclosures under the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations (SAST) following changes in their shareholding. These violations related to entities holding more than 1% of Decillion Finance's shares, as well as members of the Manish Mishra group acting in concert.
After considering the facts, evidence, wrongful gains, the time value of those gains and the factors under Section 15J of the SEBI Act, SEBI imposed a joint penalty of ₹2 crore on Abhay Dwivedi ,Anshu Mishra for disseminating false and misleading information through YouTube, and on Manish Mishra, Ankur Sharma, Vivek Chauhan, Dipak Dwiwedi, Neetu Dwivedi, Pallavi and Amrit Pal Singh for fraudulent trading under the PFUTP Regulations.
The regulator also imposed a joint penalty of ₹5 lakh on Manish Mishra, Ankur Sharma, Vivek Chauhan, Dipak Dwiwedi and Neetu Dwivedi for violating disclosure requirements under the SAST Regulations.
Srivani Merchants, Gangadhar Dealers, Torner Tie Up and Latangi Vyapaar were jointly fined ₹4 lakh for similar disclosure violations, while Sri Salasar Suppliers was fined ₹1 lakh.
Gaurav Jaiswal was separately penalised ₹5 lakh for manipulating the last traded price of Decillion Finance shares. SEBI held that the penalties were commensurate with the violations committed by the noticees.
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