Bollywood: Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra fined Rs300,000 for insider trading
Bollywood actress’ husband was earlier arrested for alleged involvement in porn racket
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday imposed a penalty of Rs300,000 (Dh14,835) on ‘Hungama 2’ actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra, her businessman husband Raj Kundra alias Ripu Sudan Kundra and their company Viaan Industries for violating its insider trading rules.
As per the SEBI order, Kundra, Shetty and their company were fined for a three-year delay in the disclosure of an allotment of preferential shares.
In 2015, Viaan Industries had made a preferential allotment of 500,000 equity shares. Of this 128,800 equity shares each were allotted to Kundra (referred to as Ripu Sudan Kundra) and Shetty, the promoters of the company.
According to SEBI’s Prohibition of Insider Trading Rules, 2015, the promoters had to disclose this transaction to the company within two days if it exceeded Rs1 million in value. The company, in turn, has to relay this disclosure to the stock exchanges within two trading days.
In this case, SEBI said the value of the transaction was Rs25.6 million each and the disclosures pertaining to the 2015 transaction were made only in 2019. In reply to a notice from the regulator, Shetty and Kundra acknowledged the mistake and said it was not done with malafide intent.
“Securities and Exchange Board of India had conducted an investigation into the trading/dealings in the scrip of Viaan Industries Limited (formerly known as Hindustan Safety Glass Industries Limited), during the period September 01, 2013, to December 23, 2015. Pursuant to the investigations, it was observed that Ripu Sudan Kundra, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Viaan Industries Ltd had allegedly violated the provisions of Regulations 7(2)(a) and 7(2)(b) of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015,” SEBI order said.
The market regulator further ordered the Noticees — Kundra, Shetty and their company — to remit/pay the penalty within 45 days of the receipt of the order.
Kundra was arrested by the police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films. He has been named as the key conspirator by the Mumbai Police, which has slapped charges against him under Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292, and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, said the police.
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On Sunday, the police had informed that four of Kundra’s employees have turned witnesses against him in the pornography racket case, increasing troubles for him.
On Monday, the Bombay High Court adjourned the hearing on Kundra’s bail plea until Thursday. The court has also asked the investigating officer to remain present during the hearing in the pornography racket case. The court has not given any interim relief to the businessman.
Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
On Tuesday, Mumbai Crime Branch said that actor Shilpa Shetty has also not been given a clean chit in the pornography racket case yet, where her husband and businessman Raj Kundra is the prime accused.
According to officials forensic auditors have been appointed to investigate the transactions in all the accounts of the people involved in the case.