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BOLLYWOOD actor Arshad Warsi and his wife have been banned from trading in the stock market after they were implicated in a case related to misleading videos on YouTube, according to reports.
The Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. actor and his wife, Maria Goretti, recommended investors buy stocks of two companies, leading the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to open an investigation into alleged price manipulation, according to the BBC.
The SEBI investigation found that YouTube channels The Advisor and Moneywise used celebrities to recommend stocks of two companies to retail investors, the BBC reported.
The channels are owned by influencer Manish Mishra who was also banned from trading. The videos shared false and misleading information about Sharpline Broadcast and Sadhna Broadcast, according to the BBC.
Similar videos were uploaded on the channels Midcap calls and Profit Yatra, the BBC reported.
According to SEBI, Mr Warsi profited 2.94 million Indian rupees and his wife earned a profit of 3.75m Indian rupees from the scheme, Indian newspaper Mint reported.
SEBI said the video on channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers were part of paid marketing campaigns. The entities involved in the price manipulation made profits by selling their shares while the prices were high, the BBC added.
However, Mr Warsi and his wife denied the allegations. In a tweet, the actor said he and his wife lack knowledge of the stock market.
“Please do not believe everything you read in the news. Maria and my knowledge about stocks is zero, took advice and invested in Sharda, and like many other, lost all our hard earned money,” he wrote.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2023
