It seems that troubles are mounting for Raju Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty from all sides. After the arrest of businessman Kundra in a pornography case, the stock market regulator on Wednesday fined Kundra his wife and actor Shilpa Shetty in a 2015 case of insider trading in a listed company named Viaan Industries Limited.
Raj Kunda (real name Ripu Sudan Kundra) who is in the custody of the Mumbai police on charges of operating a mobile application that showed pornographic content and his actor wife acquired shares of a company called Hindustan Safety Glass Industries Limited in 2013 and became its majority shareholders. The company was originally listed at Calcutta Stock Exchange but after acquisition by Kundra it was listed at Bombay Stock Exchange.
After the listing, as promoters Kundra couple further allotted five lakh shares to themselves on a preferential basis valued at Rs2.57 crore. However, did not inform the stock exchange or the market regulator as mandated by Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations governed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
However, during the investigation, Raj Kundra had filed his reply to the SEBI accepting the delay in informing under the regulations but pleaded to condone the same.
After a detailed investigation, the SEBI has directed Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty and Viaan Industries Limited to jointly pay Rs3 lakh as a fine within 45 days of the order.
“Considering all the facts and circumstances of the case and exercising the powers conferred upon me under section 15 I of the SEBI Act read with rule 5 of the Adjudication Rules, I hereby impose a monetary penalty of Rs. 3,00,000/- (Rupees Three Lakh only) on the Noticees viz. Mr. Ripu Sudan Kundra, Ms Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Viaan Industries Ltd under the provisions of section 15A(b) of the SEBI Act for their violations,” Suesh Menon, adjudicating officer appointed by the SEBI said in his order.
