The Quant Mutual Fund is under Sebi’s investigation for a probable front-running case.
Quant Mutual Fund told investors via e-mail that data collected by Sebi was not part of any regular process but was part of a court-approved search and seizure operation with respect to any ongoing investigation initiated by Sebi.
Weeks after Sebi’s search-and-seizure at Quant Mutual Fund’s offices, the company has confirmed the raids and said it was “not part of any regular process”. The mutual fund house is under Sebi’s investigation for a probable front-running case.
In June, Sebi conducted search-and-seizure operations in the Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad offices of Quant MF, reportedly linked to alleged profits estimated at Rs 20 crore.
Sebi did not release any official information on the action. But, it was reported in the media.
Now, in an email to investors on July 13, Quant Mutual Fund said, “We would like to clarify that the data collected by the regulator was not part of any regular process but was part of a court-approved search and seizure operation with respect to any ongoing investigation initiated by Sebi.”
In the FAQs Corrigendum on July 13, one of the questions was ‘Has anyone been convicted?’. Responding to this, Quant MF said, “No. It is the regulator’s job to collect and analyse data on an ongoing basis. We have not received any communication after initial enquiries.”
Earlier, Quant Mutual Fund had said in an email FAQ that the SEBI investigation was a regular ongoing process by the regulator to collect data and analyse it.
Front-running refers to an illegal practice in the stock market where an entity trades based on advanced information from a broker or analyst before the information has been made available to its clients.
Quant Mutual Fund on Friday said its Chief Financial Officer Harshal Patel has resigned, and Shashi Kataria has been appointed to replace him with effect from July 1, 2024. It, however, said that the rejig was done on February 19, way before the Sebi action in June, and the last day of Patel was May 19.
