Sebi cracks down on Ketan Parekh in new front-running case

Mumbai: India’s market regulator said it has uncovered an alleged front-running scheme involving Ketan Parekh, convicted in 2008 for stock market manipulation, and Rohit Salgaocar, whose company facilitated these “illicit” trades that led to unlawful gains of ₹65.77 crore. Role of key accused “The evidence gathered, including digital footprints, WhatsApp chats, phone calls, and Bloomberg messages, suggests that Ketan Parekh was directly involved in executing the front-running strategy,” said the order by Sebi whole time member Kamlesh Varshney. The investigation revealed that Parekh communicated orders with traders at firms like Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd and Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, which were executing trades for the Big Client, Sebi said. “The accused were able to generate a large amount of profits which is prima facie found to be unlawful, which may be siphoned off beyond regulatory reach, if immediate steps are not taken.” According to the order, the nexus between the accused, use of technology to share information and sharing of large amounts of profits made it imperative for Sebi to protect siphoning of the unlawful gains made by noticees, which may be liable for disgorgement in the final proceedings.