The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has impounded bank accounts of two individuals from Surat for running an unregistered investment advisory firm which widely used WhatsApp to give trading tips and stock specific recommendations. (read the SEBI order here) Bank accounts held by Mansoor Rafiq Khanda and Firoz Rafiq Khanda, who collected subscription fees from duped investors, had deposits worth over Rs 3.83 crore. Accordingly, SEBI said that the unlawful gains made by the subscriptions would attract a simple interest of 12% which translated to around Rs 1.2 crore. Therefore, the total funds impounded by SEBI is Rs 5.04 crore. SEBI had previously issued an interim order in 2014 against the Khandas, the proprietors of fullonoption.com (now defunct) India Trading Company, Option & M.C.X King, A to Z solution and Fullon Corporation. The brothers replied to SEBI's summons in February 2016 saying that they were "not highly educated" persons and had no knowledge what license was needed for the business. They also added that their mother was ill for a very long time and hence could not make it to the summons (we're not making this up). Modus operandi The brothers Mansoor Rafiq Khanda and Firoz Rafiq Khanda were proprietors of a number of firms which sent trading tips on WhatsApp from four mobile numbers. The Khandas had provided investment advisory services to the public by soliciting subscriptions through WhatsApp messages and website containing enticing and misleading claims. Some of them are: "DEC 2013 SERIES PERFORMANCE REPORT (1) VOLTAS 95 CALL BUY@ 50 PAISA TGT HIT @ 9 PROFIT…
