SEBI bans Shankar Sharma, others from offloading Brightcom Group shares; stock extends losses, falls 5%

SEBI bans Shankar Sharma, others from offloading Brightcom Group shares; stock extends losses, falls 5%

Brightcom Group shares extended their rout, hitting its 5% lower circuit in trade for the second consecutive session after SEBI banned seasoned investor Shankar Sharma, and 23 other individuals, from selling or offloading Brightcom Group shares they possess, either directly or indirectly on beliefs of manipulation.

Additionally, the capital markets regulator released an interim order against Brightcom, prohibiting the chairman & CEO Suresh Kumar Reddy and the CFO, Narayan Raju from serving as a director or any key managerial role in any publicly-listed company or its subsidiaries. “Mr M Suresh Kumar Reddy is hereby restrained from buying, selling or dealing in securities either directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever until further orders,” said the SEBI order.

About the SEBI order

SEBI added that it found that the group carried out certain manipulations in its preferential allotments. India’s market regulator said on Tuesday that Brightcom attempted to “cover-up its misdeeds” by submitting forged and fabricated bank statements, which also raised doubts about the authenticity of the company’s historical financial disclosures. The regulator further noted that the digital marketing company claimed to have advanced loans worth Rs 824 crore to its subsidiaries. However, only Rs 350.75 crore was transferred to the firms and the rest of the funds was supposedly siphoned off.

Brightcom set up an internal team to review its options, adding in a statement that it was consulting legal experts and evaluating potential courses of action. But it did not address any of SEBI’s allegations and did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. SEBI has previously raised concerns over Brightcom overstating profits. It fined the company and five promoters in June over disclosure and code of conduct violations.