Mumbai: PMLA Court Denies Bail To Ex-Axis MF Fund Manager In ₹91 Crore Front-Trading Case

Mumbai: The special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has rejected the bail plea of Viresh Joshi, former fund manager of Axis Mutual Fund, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of earning Rs 91 crore through front trading, an illegal market manipulation practice.

Joshi had moved a bail plea through his lawyer Manan Sanghi, claiming that the alleged amount has already been recovered by the authorities. The plea was objected by ED prosecutor Arvind Aghav. The agency claimed Joshi was working as the chief dealer of Axis Mutual Fund and had access to confidential information regarding schemes and policies. However, he allegedly violated this trust by sharing sensitive information, causing severe financial losses to numerous investors.

ED claimed that on the basis of a statement given by Sumit Desai, one of Joshi’s associates, “Joshi had arranged the trading accounts and also helped in installing a bolt terminal in Dubai with the help of his friend”. He allegedly received Rs 91 crore from various unknown entities in various bank accounts of his family members. After a detailed analysis of these bank accounts, the ED claimed that certain persons are involved in a synthetic scheme to launder the illicit proceeds collected via multiple channels.