The Hanif Shekh Stock Pump-and-Dump Scheme
SEBI says one man ran an 'industrial scale' scheme using 226 entities to pump and dump five listed stocks between 2017 and 2020 — netting ₹143.79 crore in illegal gains before regulators caught up, years later.
The Promise
“Trading in Indian-listed securities will reflect genuine market forces, free of coordinated pump-and-dump schemes designed to manipulate share prices for a small group's benefit.”
— Securities and Exchange Board of India, as market regulator, Regulator responsible for market integrity and investor protection · 1 January 2017
SEBI's investigation found a scheme operating between 2017 and 2020 that manipulated the shares of five listed companies: Mauria Udyog, 7NR Retail, Darjeeling Ropeway Company, GBL Industries, and Vishal Fabrics.
The Standard
Share price movements driven by genuine investor demand and disclosed company fundamentals, not by a coordinated network of entities executing artificial trades to inflate prices before selling into the rise.
SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations.
In force from 1 January 2017
The Reality
In a June 2026 order, SEBI found that Hanif Shekh orchestrated a pump-and-dump scheme across five listed stocks using SMS tips, artificial trades, and layered money trails, involving 226 entities playing designated roles. SEBI imposed a ₹10 crore penalty on Shekh and barred him from the securities market for seven years, while penalising 225 other individuals and entities with fines ranging from ₹5 lakh to ₹2 crore and market-access restrictions of up to six years. Four other named individuals — Navneet Kumar Sureka, Deepa Sureka, Malay Bhow, and Himanshu Shah — were fined ₹1 crore each with five-year bans. SEBI said the scheme, though not new in concept, was executed 'meticulously and on an almost industrial scale.'
As of 1 June 2026
The Gap
Bars share a single zero-based scale. No axis truncation is used to exaggerate or minimize the gap between the two figures.
Money
₹143.79 crore in alleged illegal gains across the scheme; individual penalties ranged from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 crore across 226 entities.
Timeline
- StatusScheme begins
The alleged pump-and-dump operation begins across five listed stocks.
- StatusScheme period ends
SEBI's investigation covers manipulation activity through 2020.
- MilestoneSEBI issues final order
SEBI penalises Hanif Shekh and 225 other entities, imposing a combined set of fines and multi-year market bans.
Legal Status
This is a stub entry describing a SEBI regulatory (administrative) order, not a criminal prosecution. Whether any of the penalised individuals have appealed to the Securities Appellate Tribunal has not been confirmed.
Penalised ₹10 crore and barred from the securities market for seven years by SEBI's June 2026 order.
Verdict
Preliminary verdict, pending fuller research: SEBI's own order documents a large, coordinated manipulation scheme and imposes substantial penalties, though the regulatory action came years after the alleged manipulation occurred (2017-2020 vs. a 2026 order).
This entry is based on SEBI's own final order as reported by independent financial press, which is a reasonably authoritative source, though this investigation has not reviewed SEBI's full order text directly nor confirmed whether any appeal is pending.
What remains incomplete
- This is a stub entry; SEBI's full order document has not been directly reviewed, only press summaries of it.
- Whether any penalised party has appealed to the Securities Appellate Tribunal has not been confirmed.
- The combined total of all 226 entities' penalties has not been calculated here.
Sources
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