Eros International Media case: 17 entities fined by Sebi for alleged non compliance

NEW DELHI: Securities and Exchange Board of India penalized 17 entities on Tuesday for being unable to produce timely information in the matter of Eros International Media Ltd along with the non compliance of investigation. As per the Sebi order, each entity had to face a Rs 12 Lakh fine amounting to Rs 2 crore, that needs to be paid within 45 days.

Following the mismanagement and financial irregularities involving Eros International Media Ltd. (EIML), Spicy Entertainment & Media Ltd. (SEML), and other related entities, the market regulator requested detailed information including agreements, transactions, and details about the shareholders and directors of the companies, along with ledgers, bank statements, tax filings, information on co-produced films, explanations for incomplete or terminated projects, and details regarding payments and refunds exchanged between the two companies.

The 17 entities are Sunita Patel Kamlesh, Nitin Boricha Kishor, Vikaram Vasudev Rajani, Dhrishti Vikram Rajani, Dev Govind Binani, Abhishek Das, Anindya Bikas Datta, Debjit Medda, Rina Kumari Singh, Sutapa Mukherjee, Manisha Kumari Singh, Gourab Ray Chaudhuri, Vinod Kumar Agarwal, Sumit Bhoot, Sheetal Suresh Kale, Anil Kumar Sajjankumar Sharma, and Debosmita Ghosh Dastidar.

In its order, Sebi revealed that various noticees (1-17) constantly failed to cooperate with the investigation initiated by the regulator and did not provide the complete information requested in summons issued between March and April 2023.

It said that many entities either provided incomplete information or failed to provide essential documents, including ledgers, agreements, and income tax returns. Additionally, some of the agreements submitted could not be verified.

Even after receiving multiple summons, several entities failed to appear or quoted professional or personal reasons for not attending with no concrete evidence. Others asserted that they could only provide limited information because of their resignation from the involved companies. Sebi also pointed out their failure to contribute critical data even from the time they were still with the firms.

As per Sebi, the information sought by the investigating authority was crucial and would have enabled the it to draw precise conclusions on the matter. It said that if the noticees had responded to the summons, provided complete information timely and assisted to clarify the situation, the IA would have been better positioned to assess the roles of the various entities involved in the siphoning of funds and manipulation of accounts related to EIML.

"Furthermore, information regarding extracts of ledgers, agreements for which advances were received from EIML, and details of payments received from EIML was critical. It is clear that the information requested by the investigating authority was essential to the investigation, and the noticees failure to comply with the summons significantly hindered the process," SEBI stated in its 68-page order.

Sebi, in June 2023, banned Eros International and 4 other entities from the securities market in a case related to the possible diversion of funds based on supposed findings. The ban was further confirmed in October 2023.
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