Why YouTuber Asmita Patel, known as ‘she-wolf of stock market’, has been banned by SEBI?

SEBI has banned finfluencer Asmita Patel along with five other entities from the stock market, impounding illegal gains of over ₹53 crore.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has banned six entities connected to YouTuber and finfluencer Asmita Patel from the capital markets for allegedly running an unregistered investment advisory service, according to a report by news agency PTI.

SEBI Bhavan at BKC Bandra in Mumbai.(PTI)

Known for portraying herself as the 'She Wolf of the stock market' and the ‘options queen,’ she claimed to have mentored over a lakh students worldwide.

These banned entities include Asmita Jitesh Patel herself, Asmita Patel Global School of Trading Pvt Ltd (APGSOT), Jitesh Jethalal Patel, King Traders, Gemini Enterprise and United Enterprises, PTI wrote, quoting a 129-page SEBI order.

SEBI investigated APGSOT along with its directors in particular, after a complaint came from a group of 42 investors, alleging unauthorised investment advisory activities.

As per the complainants, Asmita Patel has assets to the tune of ₹140 crore using her proprietary system.

SEBI directed her to disgorge more than ₹53 crore collected as fees from the participants of her various courses, claiming that they were misled with exaggerated promises of profits and coerced into paying high fees for minimal or ineffective trading education.

Apart from that, APGSOT was also alleged to be part of a scheme were students were lured to trade in specific stocks, being provided with buy and sell recommendations for stocks through private telegram channels, Zoom meetings, and emails, besides the educational courses. This was after the students were made to open a trading account with ABC Ltd.

As a result, SEBI launched a probe from August 2019 to October 2023 to determine if such investment services were being offered without the necessary Sebi's registration, which is mandated under Investment Adviser (IA) rules.

APGSOT is also alleged to have collected fees through King Traders, Gemini Enterprise and United Enterprises after directing them to pay course fees to the bank accounts belonging to these entities.

This is how the six entities jointly collected the now-impounded ₹53.67 crore as fees for their courses like LMIT (Let’s Make India Trade), MPAT (Master’s in Price Action Trading) and Options Multiplier (OM).