Sebi slaps Rs27 lakh fine on Sungold Capital, executive directors

New Delhi: Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has imposed a fine of total Rs27 lakh on Sungold Capital Ltd and its three executive directors for allegedly violating norms related to public holding and disclosures.

In an order passed on 30 June, Sebi imposed the penalty on Sungold Capital and its three executive directors—Rajiv R. Kotia, Ashok Modi and Sharad Gandhi.

A fine of Rs5 lakh was slapped on the firm for wrongly classifying the shareholding of the ‘promoter group’ as ‘public holding’ and making wrong disclosures of the shareholding of Kotia’s son.

Besides, the company and its three executive directors faced a penalty of Rs10 lakh for providing “false and misleading information” to the stock exchanges by classifying the shareholding of the ‘promoter group’ as ‘public holding’.

Also, a fine of Rs12 lakh was levied on Kotia, who is also the promoter, chairman and managing director of Sungold Capital Ltd, for failure to disclose to the company and to the stock exchange the change in the shareholding of his wife and son in the firm.

In a separate order passed on 30 June, Sebi slapped a fine of Rs10 lakh on five relatives of Kotia for their failure to make the necessary disclosures in respect of their trading in the scrip of Sungold Capital.

Sebi noted that the five relatives of Kotia “being deemed to be PACs (person acting in concert), holding more than 15% shares of Sungold Capital Ltd traded in the scrip during April to June 2009, resulting in change of shareholding by more than 2%, which is required to be disclosed to the company as well to the stock exchanges where the shares of the company are listed”.

However, there was no disclosure on part of the five to the company as well as the stock exchanges.