Sebi slaps Rs 2L penalty on broker

Market regulator Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs two00000 on one Alpesh Girish Dand for his alleged involvement in fraudulent trading in shares of Asian Star Company Limited (ASCL). According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi),Dand indulged in circular reversal synchronised trades with the other brokers and clients in scrips of ASCL. After taking into consideration all the facts and circumstances of the case,Sebi in its order dated October 29 said it was imposing a penalty of Rs 200000 on Dand,”which will be commensurate with the violations committed by him”. In a probe,Sebi had found a spurt of more than 18% in the price ASCL shares during the period from October 10,2008 to November 20,2008,when the BSE’s benchmark Sensex had fallen by around 20%. Dand had carried out synchronised trading in ASCL scrips through the broker Triveni Management Consultancy Services. “Gain per se were made by the noticee (Dand) in that it traded in the scrip in a manner meant to create artificial volumes and liquidity which is an important criterion,apart from price,capable of misleading the investors while making an investment decision,” Sebi said. The regulator has alleged that Dand had connections with the entities of Mehta group through Triveni and executed largenumber of synchronised trades. Last month,Sebi had penalised Sunil Mehta,one of the entities of Mehta group,alleging that he was main conspirator behind the synchronised trading. Sebi said repeated execution of circular trades,among others,by Dand with Mehta group entities leaves no doubt that “the noticee (Dand) contributed in manipulating the scrip of ASCL.” The regulator noted that default by Dand was not found to be repetitive in nature