Influencer economy meets regulatory muscle as Sebi raids Avadhut Sathe
Sebi raided market influencer Avadhut Sathe’s Karjat academy in a 36-hour operation, seizing devices and data, as part of its intensified crackdown on unregistered finfluencers misleading retail investors with trading promises.
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As torrential rains battered Mumbai last week, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) quietly staged one of its boldest enforcement actions yet, a 36-hour search and seizure operation at the Karjat home of popular trader and influencer Avadhut Sathe.
The raid, which began at dawn on August 20 and stretched into the next evening, marks a sharp escalation in Sebi’s campaign against “finfluencers” who blur the lines between education and stock market advice. Digital devices and trading records were seized after weeks of surveillance and court clearances, underscoring the regulator’s intent to go beyond warnings and set a precedent with visible action.
As reported by Moneycontrol, Sebi whole-time member Kamlesh Chandra Varshney speaking at a FICCI-CAPAM event, did not name Sathe but confirmed a “big search operation on a big name,” stressing the regulator’s zero-tolerance stance against misguiding retail investors under the guise of education. Complaints to Sebi suggest that some trading academies may be indirectly colluding with operators by weaving penny stocks into classroom “lessons” to inflate prices.
The move signals that Sebi’s lens is no longer restricted to listed entities and brokerages but firmly on market educators and social media influencers who promise shortcuts to wealth. Officials say the aim is to create a deterrent effect in a booming influencer-driven trading culture, where hundreds of unregistered “gurus” run paid workshops and strategy sessions for unsuspecting retail investors.
Sathe, whose Karjat Trading Academy and YouTube channel command nearly a million followers, has long been viewed as one of the faces of this ecosystem.
