SEBI to probe Cyberspace share trades

mumbai: the securities and exchange board of india has decided to probe the trades undertaken by former tata finance md dilip pendse, al shilotri, sacked ceo of niskalp and rakesh mehta of renaissance to ramp up cyberspace stock. the market regulator is also looking into the trades undertaken by the trio in k-10 stocks. according to figures available with sebi, niskalp bought 81,000 shares of cyberspace - which is nearly valueless now.the scrip was bought between october 12, 1999 and may 8, 2000 when the bull-run was on. during this period, the cyberspace scrip rose steadily from rs 292 in july 1999 to peak at rs 1,249 in february 2000. when contacted, bombay house officials declined comment on the issue of trades undertaken by niskalp under pendse. sebi, which is probing the transaction, is expected to submit its report shortly, sources said. data reveals that all but one of the cyberspace purchases were made through the rakesh mehta-owned renaissance. mehta was arrested along with the former uti chairman p subramanyam. niskalp investments, a former 100 per cent subsidiary of tata finance ltd, suffered a loss of over rs 200 crore due to circular trading to ramp up the stock. later, niskalp ceased to be a subsidiary of tata finance and tata sons acquired 51 per cent of niskalp. according to available data, the shares were bought at a low of rs 292.06 on october 12, 1999, at an average buy of around 3,000 shares. the scrip was bought even at rs 1,095.41 and 1,249.02 on february 7 and 21, 2000. in february, when the cyberspace scrip fell below the rs 1,249.02 level, niskalp had bought the shares to arrest the fall at rs 915.8 in may 2000 pointing to circular trading. an analysis of niskalp's investments in k-10 stocks shows large purchases in july and mid-april 2000, which was the exact period of the bull-run led by ketan parekh. data shows niskalp bought 15,66,200 shares of global telesystems worth rs 69.5 crore between july 1999 and march 2000, beginning at rs 237 and peaking at rs 2,501 in march 2000 with trades in excess of 1,00,000 shares. the company's other stock investments between october 1999 and march 2000 include aptech (23,000 shares) between rs 977 and rs 1,984, cyber technique (51,573 shares) between rs 248 and rs 1,112, digital equipment (62,875 shares) between rs 444 and rs 1,451, himachal futuristic communication ltd. (hfcl) 1,22,000 shares between rs 147 and rs 1,504.