Sebi Cracks Down On Finfluencers, Raids Avadhut Sathe’s Karjat Trading Academy; Devices & Data Seized For Investigation

Karjat: On August 20, around 6:30 am, a Sebi enforcement team reached Karjat, near Mumbai, to raid the premises of Avadhut Sathe, a popular trading influencer. Despite heavy rain in the region, Sebi officials carried out a full search and seizure operation that continued until the evening of August 21.

A Planned Operation

Sources close to the matter described the operation as “well planned and carefully executed.” Sebi had taken court permissions ahead of time, monitored movements, and even carried out reconnaissance before the raid. During the operation, they seized digital devices and trading records for further investigation.

Why Sebi Took Action

As per the Money Control, Sebi has not officially named Sathe, senior official Kamlesh Chandra Varshney confirmed that a major search operation was conducted on a big name in the trading education space. He said the regulator is targeting those misleading retail traders under the name of education.

Varshney added that giving stock tips, using live trading data, or promising guaranteed profits in classes without Sebi registration is not allowed. The goal is to warn such influencers that Sebi is actively watching and ready to act.

Suspicious Activities Being Probed

Officials also believe that some trading academies may be working with stock market operators to push penny stocks. These are low-value shares that can be easily manipulated. By using these stocks in their training examples, such influencers might be helping operators inflate stock prices.

Who is Avadhut Sathe?

Avadhut Sathe runs the Karjat Trading Academy and has become a popular figure among retail investors. His YouTube channel has over 9.36 lakh subscribers. However, this raid is one of the biggest actions Sebi has taken against a market influencer so far.