SEBI Orders Avadhut Sathe Academy to Refund ₹546 Crore and Bars Founder From Markets for Two Years

India's securities regulator has ordered trader-trainer Avadhut Sathe and his company, Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy Pvt Ltd, to refund ₹546.17 crore (about $57.5 million) in course fees. The Securities and Exchange Board of India issued the 171-page final order on Friday, Oct. 23.

SEBI found the academy ran unregistered investment advisory and research analyst services under the label of stock market education. The market ban on Sathe and the academy runs for two years or until the refunds are complete, whichever is later.

What SEBI ordered

The refund comes with ₹67.87 crore in interest, to be deposited in SEBI's Investor Protection and Education Fund. The interest runs at 12 percent a year from Oct. 10, 2025, up to the date of the order.

Sathe and the academy have five months from receipt of the order to complete the refunds. Payments must go through a dedicated bank account and only by electronic transfer or other banking channels with an audit trail.

Within 30 days they must publish newspaper notices explaining how participants can claim their money. The notices must run in English, Hindi and a widely circulated local language. Any balance left after refunds goes to SEBI, is held in escrow for one year for clients and complainants, and then passes to the investor protection fund.

Their bank accounts are frozen for debits until the full amounts are deposited. SEBI also barred the pair from selling assets except to pay refunds.

The penalties

SEBI imposed a combined ₹11.5 crore in penalties, payable within 45 days:

• ₹6 crore on the academy
• ₹4 crore on Avadhut Sathe
• ₹1.5 crore on Gouri Avadhut Sathe, a director

Gouri Sathe was barred from the securities market for six months. SEBI based her liability on a failure to exercise adequate oversight.

How the academy collected the money

According to the order, the academy collected about ₹601.38 crore in fees from July 2015 to October 2025. SEBI tied ₹546.17 crore of that to the programmes covered by its findings and ordered it disgorged and refunded.

The regulator found that the trainer gave specific stock recommendations, entry and exit targets, stop-loss levels and price-direction forecasts. These came during live market sessions, paid programmes and WhatsApp groups. Neither the company nor its directors were registered with SEBI as investment advisers or research analysts.

SEBI also found that the advice was given without any assessment of whether it suited the people receiving it.

The regulator drew a line it says the academy crossed. Education can legitimately cover market fundamentals and risk management, SEBI said. Stock-specific recommendations require registration under the investment adviser and research analyst rules.

Testimonials and a prior warning

SEBI found the academy circulated testimonial and promotional videos showing profitable trades while leaving out the overall losses of participants. According to the order, SEBI's analysis showed participants were in net losses.

SEBI had already warned the academy on March 1, 2024 against misrepresenting trading performance and publishing selective disclosures. The regulator found the promotional practices continued after that warning.

The academy's defense

The academy argued that its activities were strictly instructional and that participant fees were not income from unregistered advisory operations. SEBI rejected that. It held that real-time trading guidance and targeted recommendations went beyond general financial literacy.

The academy and Sathe have not publicly responded to the final order. The order is a regulator's finding, and it can be appealed before the Securities Appellate Tribunal.

What comes next

The first visible test is the 30-day newspaper notice. It must set out the claim process and a contact person for former participants. Penalties are due in 45 days and refunds in five months. It remains unclear whether Sathe and the academy will comply or take the order to the tribunal.