SEBI Slaps Rs35 Lakh Penalty on Sunny Bhatia, Family Members for Front-running in Eastman Group Trades

Moneylife Digital Team 07 October 2025

Investor Interest

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed a joint and several penalties of Rs35 lakh on Sunny Bhatia (noticee 1), Surbhi Chopra Bhatia (noticee 2), Mamta Rani (noticee 3) and Ashok Kumar (noticee 4) for front-running trades of the Eastman group (big client) between January 2019 and December 2022.

In an order, Amit Kapoor, adjudicating officer (AO) of SEBI, stated that, as discussed and established, the noticees engaged in front-running trades and violated the provisions of the SEBI Act and PFUTP Regulations during the investigation period (IP). In the AO assessment, these violations cannot be treated leniently and deserve appropriate penalties.

The SEBI investigation revealed that Sunny Bhatia, acting as a dealer for the Eastman group, executed trades in his own account and those of his wife, mother and father, with the latter three permitting him to use their accounts for front-running. The Eastman group, led by Rakesh Singhal, consisted of seven entities, executing about 7% of daily trades in a scrip during the investigation period.

Sunny Bhatia, Surbhi Bhatia and Mr Kumar held accounts with Findoc Investmart Pvt Ltd, where Sunny Bhatia was a dealer, while Mr Kumar traded via Kotak Securities. Sunny Bhatia repeatedly placed orders ahead of Eastman group in equity derivatives and squared off positions for profit. Front running occurred from June 2019 to May 2022, with 13.16% of the noticees' trades linked to Eastman group, generating Rs18.46 lakh across 107 instances, including 45 buy-buy-sell (BBS) and 62 sell-sell-buy (SSB) patterns.

Rakesh Singhal actively guided Eastman group trading decisions, often visiting Findoc’s Ludhiana branch or calling Sunny Bhatia. Call and visitor logs confirmed that Sunny Bhatia had non-public knowledge of impending trades, allowing him to execute trades via his and his family members’ accounts for profit.

Sunny Bhatia admitted to managing his family’s accounts and taking positions in the same scrips as Eastman group, sometimes simultaneously, based on his risk appetite. Findoc’s internal review flagged high turnover in these accounts and observed suspicious copying of Eastman group trades, ultimately moving Sunny Bhatia to back-office duties.

Across multiple instances, noticees earned profits by placing trades ahead of Eastman group, including Rs22,990 by Ms Rani and Rs15,200 by Mr Kumar in BEL options trades. SEBI concluded that prior knowledge or occasional permission from Rakesh Singhal did not make the trades lawful.

In total, SEBI says the noticees’ actions manipulated market supply and demand, earning Rs18.47 lakh through front-running. They were found in violation of Section 12A(a), (b), (c), and (e) of the SEBI Act and Regulations 3, 4(1), 4(2)(q), and 2(1)(c) of the PFUTP Regulations.

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