Sebi strikes Pune-based trading guru Avadhut Sathe; warns public

FPJ News Service mumbai

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has raided the Karjat-based trading academy of Pune finfluencer Avadhut Sathe, as part of a widening crackdown on unregistered market educators, reported ET Now.

Sebi officials carried out a search-and-seizure operation on August 20 at Sathe’s Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy (ASTA), seizing digital devices and trading data. The action followed complaints that penny stocks were being promoted during his training sessions, allegedly presented as classroom examples while encouraging students to invest.

The raid, led by a deputy general manager, was said to have been planned over a long period. In recent months, Sebi has intensified scrutiny of unregistered finfluencers and trading coaches, many of whom promote courses that hint at assured returns or provide unlicensed advisory.

ETNow said the move against Sathe is one of Sebi’s most high-profile actions against the fast-growing online trading education industry, signalling a stronger enforcement drive against market misguidance. Sathe, 52, is one of India’s most well-known trading coaches. He combines technical analysis with theatrical presentations, often breaking into dance mid-lecture while pointing at charts on giant screens and urging students to join him on stage.

Over the years, he has trained more than 18,000 participants from middle-class backgrounds, offering courses in Hindi, Marathi, and English. An engineer by training and trader by passion, Sathe has positioned trading as both a livelihood and a form of national pride. “There are financial wars being fought in the information arena where trading can be one’s biggest weapon,” he told The Economics Times earlier this year.