Securities Appellate Tribunal stays Sebi securities market ban on Omaxe, others

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed a Sebi order that barred realty firm Omaxe, its Chairman Rohtas Goel, Managing Director Mohit Goel and others from the securities market for two years for misrepresentation in the company's financial statements.

The latest order came after Omaxe and others challenged the order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on July 30.

In its ruling on October 1, the appellate tribunal said, "direction at paragraphs No. 41(1) and (2) shall remain stayed, subject to deposit of penalty amount by the appellant within four weeks".

Paragraphs No 41(1) and (2) pertain to securities market ban and prohibition from holding any position as key managerial personnel of any other listed company imposed on individuals by Sebi.

Commenting on the development, Omaxe Managing Director Mohit Goel said, "With this stay, the restrictions on our participation in the securities market have been lifted, enabling us to raise capital and continue business operations without disruption." "At Omaxe, we remain committed to upholding transparency and maintaining the trust of our investors and stakeholders. We will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities and focus on our ongoing projects, ensuring sustained value creation and growth," Goel added.

Sebi, in its ruling, restrained Omaxe, Rohtas Goel, Mohit Goel and three others -- Sudhangshu S Biswal, Arun Kumar Pandey, and Vimal Gupta -- from the securities markets for two years.

Additionally, these five persons were "prohibited from holding any position as Director or Key Managerial Person of any other listed company for a period of two years".

Further, a penalty of Rs 47 lakh was imposed on 16 entities, including these six. The penalties ranged from Rs 1-7 lakh.

In its order, Sebi said that these entities have "acted in concert in order to execute a fraudulent scheme which they tried to portray as normal transactions for the benefit of the company although it was experiencing loss, while also trying to portray these as merely lending activities, thereby trying to maintain the price of the scrip of Omaxe for a period of three years".

The company misrepresented the financial statements during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 through its various items -- revenue, debtors, advances, and expenses.

"By the act of large-scale misrepresentation/misstatement/manipulation in financial statements by Omaxe, the scrip price was directly or indirectly manipulated to maintain the value of the collateral kept by the promoter against the loan," Sebi had noted.

Furthermore, the fraud was never disclosed to the shareholders of Omaxe, which misled them to remain invested in its shares or deal in its securities. Also, misrepresentation of the books and accounts of Omaxe misled the investors in the securities market, it had added.