New Delhi: Capital markets regulator SEBI on Tuesday imposed a penalty on three people, including Venugopal Dhoot, the founder of Videocon Industries. Dhoot has been fined Rs 25 lakh and Electroparts and Videocon Realty and Infrastructure Rs 25 lakh each. They will have to pay the fine within 45 days of getting the order. They have been fined for indulging in insider trading.
NSE did the investigation on the request of SEBI
SEBI had received two complaints alleging irregularities in the one-year decline in the stock of Videocon Industries. After this, SEBI had requested the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to investigate the stock of the company. Based on the NSE report, the capital markets regulator had also probed the possibility of insider trading and volume manipulation by some entities. In this, a violation of the Insider Trading Rules was found. In this regard, SEBI had issued a show-cause notice to the parties concerned.
The company hides price sensitive information
Investigation of the case revealed that the company had taken loans and advances of about Rs 23,070 crore from several banks. Almost all of these banks had put the loan accounts of Videocon Industries under the category of non-performing assets (NPAs). This was a sign of the deteriorating financial condition of the company. The promoters of the company hid this price-sensitive information and tried to make a profit through insider trading.
