Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday barred Mohammad Nasiruddin Ansari from the securities market and ordered him to pay Rs 17.2 crore gained unlawfully from carrying out investment advisory activities which were both unregistered and fraudulent.
Ansari runs a profile on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by the name of ‘Baap of Chart’, where he used to offer buy/sell recommendations in the stock market in the garb of providing educational training related to the securities market.
“Noticees shall cease and desist from acting as or holding themselves out to be investment advisors, whether using ‘Baap of Chart’ or otherwise. They shall cease to solicit or undertake such activity or any other unregistered or fraudulent activity in the securities market, directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever,” the SEBI order said.
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The regulator said that it observed that Ansari promoted himself as a stock market expert on various social media platforms and lured investors to enroll in various ‘educational courses’ offered by him.
He induced them to invest in the securities market by promising them the prospect of making profits with near certainty if the recommendation or advice was followed.
The markets regulator observed that Ansari uploaded his ‘educational courses’ on website/ apps through the application services provided by Bunch Microtechnologies Pvt Ltd (“Bunch”) wherein he was collecting money for enrolment in the said courses and providing access to his ‘classes’ to investors or clients.
He was also found to be providing buy/ sell recommendations in private groups of his investors/ clients. He had social media accounts on Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.
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The markets regulator ordered Ansari to deposit around Rs 17.2 crore into an escrow account with a scheduled commercial bank within 15 days.