SEBI Imposes Multi-Crore Penalties After Investigation Confirms Manipulative YouTube Campaigns Fueled Surge in Decillion Finance Shares

SEBI Imposes Multi-Crore Penalties After Investigation Confirms Manipulative YouTube Campaigns Fueled Surge in Decillion Finance Shares​

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has delivered a major enforcement action following an adjudication order concerning egregious fraudulent practices in the securities market. The Adjudicating Officer imposed substantial penalties against several individuals and entities—including Abhishek Dwivedi, Anshu Mishra, and Manish Mishra—who were implicated in disseminating false and misleading information regarding Decillion Finance Limited (DFL) through social media platforms.

The investigation confirmed that orchestrated online campaigns aimed at manipulating investor perception led to a significant spike in the stock’s price and trading volume during the defined Investigation Period (IP). The ruling highlights how coordinated digital fraud, combined with market manipulation, results in severe consequences for all parties involved.

Investigation Confirms Misleading YouTube Videos as Core of Fraud​

The investigation focused on two videos uploaded to the 'Stock Yatra' YouTube channel on January 1, 2023, and January 14, 2023. These videos disseminated highly exaggerated claims about DFL, promoting significant future targets for the scrip.

The videos falsely claimed that the company was set for a joint venture with Bajaj Finance and projected business opportunities up to Rs 3000 crores. They also asserted the involvement of Mutual Funds and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), making false claims designed to lure gullible investors.

Crucially, SEBI’s investigation traced the creation of the fraudulent content to specific individuals through digital forensics. Video 1 was determined to have been uploaded by Noticee 1. Video 2 was linked to Noticee 2 following analysis of the upload IP address, which mapped to a set of eight entities including Noticee 2 via their internet service provider.

Coordinated Trading Reveals Fraudulent Scheme and Price Distortion​

The adjudication order details a detailed trading pattern across three defined market patches: Pre-Video (Oct 20, 2022 to Dec 30, 2022), Video Period (Jan 2, 2023 to Jan 17, 2023), and Post-Video Period (Jan 18, 2023 to Feb 14, 2023).

The findings reveal that the 'Manish Mishra group' entities systematically engaged in manipulative trading. During Patch I, members of the group acquired significant quantities of DFL shares. They subsequently offloaded these holdings during Patch II at elevated prices, contributing substantially to market volume and price inflation.

Furthermore, the investigation found that Gaurav Jaiswal (Noticee 23) was not a genuine buyer but deliberately placed small buy orders to match large disclosed sell orders, thus artificially inflating the rate of change in the stock's price within Patch I and Patch II. This pattern confirms an intent to manipulate market perception rather than execute legitimate trades.

SEBI Imposes Multi-Crore Penalties on Key Perpetrators​

Based on the established fraud and unfair trade practices (PFUTP) and violations of SAST regulations, SEBI has leveled significant penalties against the implicated parties. These actions underscore SEBI’s commitment to ensuring market integrity and deterring manipulative activity in digital spaces.

The Adjudicating Officer concluded that Noticees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12 committed fraudulent and unfair trade practices. For these violations, SEBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 2,00,00,000/- (Two Crores Only).

Additionally, penalties were assigned for the violations of SAST regulations, particularly relating to non-disclosure by market participants:

• Noticee 18, Noticee 19, Noticee 20, and Noticee 21 received a penalty of Rs 4,00,000/- each for violating disclosure norms.
• Sri Salasar Suppliers Pvt. Ltd. (Noticee 22) was penalized with Rs 1,00,000/-, citing the failure to disclose shareholding changes as required by SAST Regulations.

The order emphasizes that timely and accurate disclosures are fundamental pillars of good corporate governance, necessitating mandatory penalties for non-compliance. The penal amounts were determined considering factors outlined in Section 15J of the SEBI Act, which addresses disproportionate gains and resulting investor losses due to the default.