“Tune in to Zee Business at 2:15, bhai – expert aane waale hain, stock upar jaayega.”
If that sentence sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
For lakhs of retail traders across India, TV channels like Zee Business are a trusted source for stock market tips. Many plan their trades based on guest experts who appear in prime-time shows, giving confident calls on which stock to buy or sell.
But what if we told you that while you were watching the expert speak on live TV… someone had already bought the stock and was waiting to dump it on you?
Yes, that’s exactly what happened.
The Insider Trap Disguised as Advice
SEBI just dropped a bombshell order exposing a full-blown scam involving 15 entities – including traders, shell companies, and five regular guest experts from Zee Business.
According to the SEBI investigation, these guest experts were leaking their stock tips before they were aired live on TV. And while you were waiting to hear their analysis, a group of so-called “Profit Makers” had already entered the trade minutes earlier.
As soon as the expert said, “Buy PNB 42 CE now,” these guys sold their holdings to you – at a profit. You, the retail trader, were left holding the bag.
How Big Was the Scam?
Around ₹7.36 crore.
That’s the estimated “unlawful gain” made by this group of 15 players by manipulating stock prices based on advance tip-offs.
SEBI has already recovered this amount through a mix of penalties and settlement orders.
Several of the accused settled the case without admitting guilt, while a few, including Himanshu Gupta, one of the most prominent guest experts, fought it out in hearings.
Who Did What?
SEBI grouped the accused into three roles:
- Profit Makers – Entities that traded based on advance tip-offs and made the money (like Partha Sarathi Dhar, Manan Sharecom, SAAR Commodities).
- Enablers – Brokers or associates who allowed access to trading accounts and login credentials.
- Guest Experts – The public faces on Zee Business shows who shared their upcoming tips privately before the shows aired.
Zee Business’s format, with predictable expert segments, made this kind of manipulation disturbingly easy.
If you knew who was coming on and what they were going to say, a few minutes’ lead time was all it took to flip a trade.
Impact on Retail Traders
Let’s be honest—this is not just about ₹7.36 crore. The bigger damage is trust.
Retail traders plan their trades based on these experts. For many, these TV appearances felt like gospel. But SEBI’s findings reveal a chilling reality:
You were never in the game. You were the exit.
SEBI’s Action
- Bans on all 15 entities from trading in securities.
- Freezing of their bank and demat accounts.
Along with this, SEBI penalized the respective amount on the following individuals and entities:
- Partha Sarathi Dhar- ₹50,00,000
- SAAR Commodities Pvt Ltd- ₹2,00,00,000
- Manan Sharecom Pvt Ltd.- ₹75,00,000
- Kanhya Trading Company- ₹75,00,000
But what about accountability from the media channel that aired these shows? That’s the question regulators haven’t answered yet.
Himanshu Gupta’s Defence: “No Proof, Only Assumptions”
One of the central figures, Himanshu Gupta (known as “Hitman Himanshu” on Zee Business), denied all wrongdoing. He claimed:
- He never shared any stock tips in advance.
- There’s no proof he got any profit from the scam.
- Just appearing alongside other experts doesn’t make him guilty.
Interestingly, SEBI eventually dropped proceedings against him, citing a lack of evidence, showing how tough it is to pin down intent in such white-collar manipulations.
So What Now?
If you’re a retail trader, the takeaway is simple:
Don’t blindly trust TV tips. Especially not ones that sound too confident or too specific.
Markets aren’t a game of shortcuts. And for every guest expert who smiles on screen, you never know who’s pulling the strings behind the trade.
