SEBI v. Anugrah Stock & Broking Private Limited and others (assured-return derivative advisory scheme, 2023)

Judgment entered

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 9, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, in a single reading of the order; an independent second reading of 60 SEBI records agreed on every field for 56, the four misses being penalty amounts; a later sample of 50 of the SEBI records added on 9 October agreed on every field for 46. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In February 2023 a SEBI whole-time member found that the stock broker Anugrah Stock & Broking, directly and through an associated firm, ran a derivative advisory service that took client money and promised assured returns, and falsified its books. He barred four noticees for seven years and two for five years and imposed penalties totalling Rs 8 crore.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

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Disgorgement

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Prejudgment interest

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Total relief

—

Alleged gain

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Penalty as published

80m INR

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars. This regulator states penalties in INR. The figure is recorded as published and is not converted, so it does not appear in the USD totals or medians used elsewhere on this site.

What is alleged to have happened

This order of 28 February 2023 concerns Anugrah Stock & Broking Private Limited (ASBPL), a trading member of the NSE, its directors Paresh Mulji Kariya and Sadhana Paresh Kariya, an associated firm Om Sri Sai Investments, Teji Mandi Analytics Private Limited, which was an authorised person of the broker, and two of that firm's people. Market intelligence in 2020 suggested the broker was collecting money from clients under assured-return schemes, and SEBI had the NSE appoint a forensic auditor. The exchange's notice cited about Rs 165.10 crore potentially received under a derivative advisory service, a shortfall of client funds and incorrect margin reporting, and it disabled the broker's derivatives terminal in August 2020.

SEBI's interim order of November 2020 restrained the noticees and froze assets. The final order finds that ASBPL, directly and through Om Sri Sai Investments, ran the derivative advisory service in the nature of portfolio management while promising assured returns, without the registration needed, and engaged in fund-based activity that a stock broker is not allowed to carry on. It also finds the broker suppressed creditor and debtor balances through journal entries and misstated its books without telling clients.

The officer held these acts to be fraudulent and unfair trade practices under the PFUTP Regulations. A seventh noticee, Riddhi Kalapi Shah, was given the benefit of doubt and a warning.

The four main noticees are barred for seven years, and Teji Mandi Analytics and Mr Gandhi for five, with the individuals also barred from association with listed entities or intermediaries. Penalties under section 15HA and under section 23H of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, for fund-based activity and falsified books, total Rs 8 crore: Rs 4 crore on the broker, Rs 1.4 crore each on the two directors and Rs 1.2 crore on Om Sri Sai Investments.

The record does not show how much clients lost or recovered, or whether anyone appealed. Exchange proceedings over the default continue separately.

This library has no technique that fits an assured-return advisory scheme run by a broker, so the matter is tagged with none. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the order.

Timeline

1. 2023-02-28 SEBI order

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEBI order page
• Order (PDF)

The linked release is published by the issuing regulator under its own terms. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Record added October 8, 2026. submit a correction.