New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) Sebi has barred Vinayak Tradelink and its proprietor Vivek Mahendragiri Ramdati from the securities markets for 10 years for providing investment advisory services without the market regulator's authorisation and directed them to refund investors' money.

The order came after Sebi conducted an examination in the matter and thereafter issued an interim order cum show cause notice dated December 16, 2020, directed Vinayak and Ramdati to cease and desist from acting as investment intermediaries /advisors in the securities markets until further orders.

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They were also restrained from the securities markets until further orders.

Thereafter, a supplementary show cause notice dated March 7, 2022, was issued to Vinayak and Ramdati, asking them to refund the clients' money collected as the fee for unregistered investment advisory services.

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The regulator found that Vinayak Tradelink and its proprietor Ramdati were engaged in investment advisory services without obtaining Sebi's registration as an investment adviser.

Accordingly, they violated the provisions of Investment Adviser (IA) rules, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in its final order on September 26.

Through such services, they had collected a total amount of Rs 233.90 crore from May-December 2020 through unregistered investment advisory services.

Vinayak Tradelink and its proprietor Ramdati are collectively referred to as the noticee.

The regulator also noted that noticee promised assured returns to the investors, with the intention of inducing them to various investment products/services offered by it.

Such misleading promises have induced the clients to invest in the schemes and packages floated by the Noticee, thereby violated the provisions of PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) norms.

Accordingly, Sebi said, the noticee shall within a period of three months refund the money received from investors as fees in respect of its unregistered investment advisory activities.

Also, the noticee have been debarred from accessing the securities markets for a period of 10 years or till the expiry of 10 years from the date of completion of refunds to investors, whichever is later.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)