Demat scam: Desperately seeking Roopalben

Aware of the intense media glare, hesitant neighbours state that seven persons worked at Roopalben’s office, which was being managed by her brother-in-law Deepak Panchal. This name figures on the SEBI list too. With as many as 6,221 entities having same address in Ahmedabad, Roopalben also used three more addresses of different locations in Ahmedabad to grab IDFC shares meant for retail investors. All these offices were found closed.

According to Sebi, Roopalben applied for the maximum possible number of shares per retail applicant in small lots, thus cornering the maximum possible number of shares in the IPO allotment.

A similar modus operandi was adopted by Sugandh Estates & Investments, whose office in Mithakhali area of the city was found closed. ‘‘The office was always buzzing…people discussing and debating stocks,’’ says 45-year-old Nilesh Jayant, who would supply tea to the employees who shut the office last week.

The managing editor and publisher of vernacular daily Gujarat Samachar, Shreyans S Shah — another name that figures on the SEBI list — has been also been barred from buying and selling shares, both directly or indirectly. Sebi has also named his wife Smriti Shah and his younger brother Bahubali Shah as co-accused in the IDFC IPO investigation.

‘‘I will be soon giving a legal notice to SEBI,’’ asserts Shreyansh Shah, who says that he has never met Roopalben Panchal and has no connection with her family.

Shah states that he has been investing over Rs 100 crore annually in the share market for the past three years. ‘‘I always apply for shares through my brokers. They take utmost care before investing. I am surprised and have started to inquire into the whole matter personally.’’

Shah, who was also speaking on behalf of his brother and his wife, claims that Sebi has not conducted any inquiry and did not even issue notices before making their report public.

‘‘Being a media person, I am very cautious while making an financial deal. I am yet to know as to why my name is being dragged,’’ Shah says.

I-T dept joins IDFC IPO scam probe

MUMBAI: With the Finance Minister declaring in Delhi that the probe into bogus demat accounts will be intensified, more investigating agencies have now got into the act. Apart from market regulator Sebi and the RBI, the Income-Tax department is joining the probe to evaluate the tax implications of the banned entities.

The I-T department says it has already conducted surveys based on the Sebi’s report on Yes Bank scam and is now taking action. ‘‘We are sharing information with the Sebi and vice-versa. We will be studying the role of these 35 entities and they will have to pay income tax if they have sold shares,” an top I-T official said here today.

In Mumbai, the tax officials say they are interested at the role of Manojdev Seksaria and Purshottam Budhwani, who received 5.29 lakh IDFC shares and 10.95 lakh shares, respectively, from bogus demat accounts.

When this newspaper visited Seksaria’s Maheshwar Niketan residence in Peddar Road, he was not at home. — Dev Chatterjee