The market regulator has barred finfluencer Avadhut Sathe and his company from dealing in securities and ordered their allegedly illegal gains of ₹546.16 crore to be impounded for running unregistered investment advisory and research analyst operations under the guise of stock-market education.
Sathe’s company, Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy Pvt Ltd, collected ₹601.37 crore from more than 337,000 investors since its inception in 2015. Of this amount, the regulator found evidence of wrongdoing in respect of eight courses offered to the public from January 2020 to October 2025 involving collections of ₹546.16 crore from the participants.
Sathe and the academy are restrained from buying, selling or dealing in securities until further notice, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said in its order on Thursday, while directing banks and depositories to freeze their accounts. It directed Sathe and the academy to open fixed deposits equivalent to ₹546.16 crore, with lien marked in favour of Sebi.
The regulator alleged that Sathe and his academy operated unregistered advisory services rather than an educational platform. Its investigation found that the academy and proprietors Avadhut Sathe and Gouri Avadhut Sathe were not registered as investment advisers or research analysts, a mandatory requirement under Sebi’s regulations, which are aimed at protecting investors.
The order, signed by Sebi wholetime member Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, noted that the academy and Avadhut Sathe have a significant presence on social media platforms.
“There is a likely chance that being influenced by the social media presence and followership, gullible investors may continue to fall prey to the unregistered investment advisory/research analyst activities of Noticees,” Sebi said in its order.
Better than FDs
The findings describe a system in which course participants received stock-specific guidance, including entry and exit levels, stop-loss triggers and recommendations to invest in certain securities for returns “better than” fixed deposits. Participants were “handheld” during live market sessions, with real-time prompts to place orders as per the recommendations.
Such conduct, Sebi said, could not be characterized as financial education. Despite being warned earlier, the noticees continued to publish misleading information and claim unrealistic returns, using their significant social-media reach to induce more investors to join paid programmes.
The regulator conducted search operations at the premises of the academy, Avadhut Sathe and his wife Gouri Avadhut Sathe on 20-21 August. During the investigation, Sebi analyzed WhatsApp chats and video recordings of sessions seized during the search operations.
The material indicated that Sathe and the academy operated live trading rooms where participants received direct guidance on specific stocks. In several recordings, Sathe is heard giving real-time buy and sell cues, discussing resistance levels, stop-loss points, trading strategies and expected intraday movements.
He also discussed his own trades using live and historical price-volume charts and made predictions. In one instance, he advised participants to allocate part of their capital or fixed-deposit funds to certain securities, promising returns higher than bank deposits.
Some participants were heard confirming that they had taken positions based on these recommendations. Sebi said this clearly indicated that the activity was an investment advisory or research analysis in substance.
Primary role
The regulator said Sathe played the primary role in inducing participants to trade in specific securities. For this reason, the academy and Sathe have been held jointly and severally liable for the impounding of ₹546.16 crore, the amount collected from the participants of eight courses offered from January 2020 to October 2025, where Sebi found concrete evidence of unregistered advisory activity. The remainder of the ₹601.37 crore collected since 2015 may also be considered for disgorgement, Sebi said, pending explanations from the noticees.
The interim order doubles as a show-cause notice asking the noticees why they should not be directed to disgorge the entire ₹601.37 crore with interest, be barred from the market for a longer period, face penalties for unregistered advisory and violations of the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003, and refund money to all affected participants. They have 21 days to respond. The order takes effect immediately and will remain in force until further directions.