Avdhoot Sathe
Indian market regulator SEBI has recently taken a big step against Avadhoot Sathe and his firm Avadhoot Sathe Trading Academy Private Limited (ASTAPL). Avdhoot Sathe is a financial influencer. The regulator has stopped both of them from doing any kind of activity in the securities market and has asked them to return Rs 546 crore. This amount is that which, according to SEBI, was earned by providing investment advisory and research analyst services without registration.
Who is Avadhoot Sathe?
Avdhoot Sathe is a well-known finfluencer and stock market trainer, who has been active in the market since 1991. After studying engineering, Sathe worked in America, Singapore and Australia, but later returned to India and made a career in trading and investing. After getting success in the market, he left his job in 2008 and started giving full-time training to students. Gradually his Avadhoot Sathe Trading Academy spread across the country and today it has 17 branches spread from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to cities like Bhubaneswar and Nagpur.
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Accused of giving investment advice in the name of course
SEBI’s detailed 125-page report said that Avadhoot Sathe advised thousands of people to buy and sell specific shares under the guise of his training programs. This advice was part of the schemes that were given to course takers in the name of earning quick profits. According to the report, Sathe’s wife Gauri Sathe was also involved in the daily activities of the company, but no evidence was found that she gave any kind of investment advice.
More than Rs 600 crores were recovered from lakhs of people
According to SEBI, Avdhoot Sathe and his company collected more than Rs 601 crore from about 3.37 lakh people. This money was earned by giving offers like stock market training, tips on special shares and claims of high returns. But SEBI clearly said that neither Avadhoot Sathe nor his company were registered as investment advisors or research analysts. Giving advice like this without registration is completely illegal.
SEBI has ordered Sathe and his company to immediately stop all unregistered activities, which include posing as investment advisors, using live market data, advertising profits or performance and running programs that encourage people to buy or sell shares. SEBI said that many of the ‘profitable trades’ shown by Sathe were actually selected examples, which were used for marketing purposes.
Instructions to return Rs 546 crore
SEBI has asked Avdhoot Sathe and ASTAPL to jointly return Rs 546 crore to investors. Furthermore, the investigation also found that there was a huge increase in their earnings between 2017 and 2025, and all this was being done without the necessary licenses.