Market regulator, the Security Exchange Board of India or SEBI has asked Financial influencer and youtuber, Ravindra Balu Bharti to pay up an amount of Rs 12 crore. Bharti has been asked to deposit the money in an interest-bearing Escrow Account, established for a specific purpose.
Deposit Rs 12 Crore In Escrow Account
Here Escrow account, is legal agreement that is created for better positioning of a particular transaction. He, in accordance to the agreement a disbursable asset, may it be money or property, is held by a third party, while the transaction between the two other involved parties is carried out.
The regulatory body has accused Bharti of making the said illicitly gained that money, allegedly through unregistered investment advisory business.
Bharti runs an institution, in the capacity of a financial educator. He created Ravindra Bharti Education Institute Pvt Ltd (RBEIPL) for this purpose in 2016, along with his family members.
SEBI, which has deemed the aforementioned entity unregistered, and has barred Ravindra Balu Bharti, Shubhangi Bharti, and current directors Rahul Ananta Gosavi, and Dhanashri Chandrakant Gosavi from trading securities in the market.
Barred From Trading Securities
The regulatory body's order read, "An amount of INR 12,03,82,130.91 being the total unlawful gain earned from the alleged unregistered investment advisory business, shall be impounded from Noticee no. 1 (Ravindra Bharti Education Institute Private Limited)".
The order scrutinized the misuse of the system and that investor confidence was compromised, and the system was tweaked for personal gain of Bharti.
Bharti has sizeable presence online, with as many as with over 2 million subscribers on his YouTube account, wherein content concerning the financial world are published. Content has been published across two different channels, with one publishing content in Hindi, and the other Marathi.
These incidents often highlight the need for greater financial literacy amongst individuals, who may be placated by such content creator or 'Finfluencers' who may misuse the system to beguile people into activities, that will benefit them, while causing financial harm to the victim who fall for these individuals.
