Use of about 4 billion rupees in the insurance company in the stock market manipulation, recommendation to the police for further investigation

A preliminary investigation has shown that large sums of insurance companies have been misappropriated in unauthorized manipulations in the stock market. The Nepal Securities Board (SEBON) has come to the conclusion that businessman Deepak Bhatt and his group, who are under investigation related to asset laundering, used more than 4 billion rupees from various insurance companies to manipulate the stock market. According to the investigation conducted by the supervision department of the board, Bhatt and his group engaged in share trading by misusing the 'funds' of the insurance companies in which they were invested. Since insurance companies are public limited companies that collect large investments and premiums from the general public, this kind of abuse has raised serious questions about the interests of common investors.

Sebon's investigation analyzed the share transactions of Nepal Re Insurance, Himalayan Re Insurance, various micro insurance companies, investment companies and large business houses linked to Bhatt's share transactions. At the same time, Bhatt was found to have bought shares cheaply from individuals and private companies and sold them to those companies at higher prices. The report mentions that a loan was arranged for the payment of the shares thus purchased.

Businessman Deepak Bhatt and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company Sandeep Chachan have been pointed out as the main characters of this unauthorized transaction. Sebon has charged them with offenses under Sections 96 (influencing the market) and 98 (fraudulent dealings) of the Securities Act, 2063. It has been pointed out in the report that Himalayan Reinsurance Company Limited, Himalayan Capserve Limited, Nepal Micro Insurance Company, Himalayan Securities Banker Limited, HLI Large Cap Fund, Rohit Gupta and Shekhar Golchha are also involved in this work. Also, Shubhi Agarwal, Himalayan Life Insurance Limited, Rishiraj More and Raj Bahadur Shah are also involved in increasing the share price of Nepal Reinsurance Company.

Sebon pointed out that these individuals and institutions first buy shares themselves to increase the price of the securities and then make the insurance companies under their influence buy the same shares at a higher price. The board has held that Bhatt and his group have traded loan shares worth around 3.80 billion rupees. The report mentions that Deepak Bhatt owes Bhrikuti Stock Broking Rs 2,892,200,000. Similarly, it has been found that Raj Bahadur Shah's 897 million 97 thousand rupees, Shubhi Agarwal's 62 million 89 million 56 thousand rupees and Rishiraj More's more than 23 million rupees are owed to Bhrikuti Stock Broking.

Sebon has recommended to the police headquarters for further investigation and necessary action in this case. Also, the Insurance Authority and the Asset Laundering Department have also been suggested to investigate the matter further. Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company involved in this transaction has been suspended by Sebon. Based on this report approved by Sebon's Board of Directors, the police will take necessary action. A Sebon official has described this as a historic step for the practice of disciplined trading in the capital market.