SEBI cracks the whip on Rs.1,800 crore tax evasion case

In a fresh clampdown on entities misusing stock markets for evading taxes, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Friday, imposed trading restrictions on 33 entities and suspended trading in one listed company, which have been found to have made undue gains of over Rs.1,8000000000. While 24 entities have been barred from the entire capital markets, nine others have been restrained from trading in the shares of Kamalakshi Finance Corp Limited The trading has also been suspended in its shares till further orders. This is the fourth such order by SEBI against misuse of the stock market framework for evasion of taxes in recent weeks. Together, the regulator has suspended trading in 27 companies so far in such cases, wherein the manipulators are estimated to have made cumulative undue gains of about Rs.2,5000000000. Those having faced action so far include promoters and top executives of many listed companies. In the latest case, SEBI found that the entities were trading in Kamalakshi above the Last Traded Price (LTP) and their trades resulted into artificial increase in the price. — PTI