Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has ordered billionaire investor and Aptech chairman Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to appear in a case of alleged insider trading in shares of the training company, according to a report on Mint.

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"The regulator is examining a time frame of February 2016 to September 2016 for irregular trades, which it suspects were done on the basis of insider information," Mint report quoted an unnamed person with direct knowledge of the matter.

On 7 September 2016, shares of Aptech were locked in their upper circuit level, or the maximum stock price limit in trading on a given day, of Rs 175.05 after the investor’s brother and wife —Rajeshkumar Jhunjhunwala and Rekha Jhunjhunwala — bought 763,057 shares in the IT firm through block deals, the report said. These two family members of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala have also received summons from Sebi, it added.

Jhunjhunwala has management control in Aptech and holds a 24.24 percent stake, valued at about Rs 160 crore, Mint report said. The ace investor first picked up a 10 percent stake in Aptech in 2005 at Rs 56 per share and gradually raised his holding with the last of such buying in the company by 0.19 percent in February 2019, the report said.

Jhunjhunwala manages his own equity portfolio as a partner in asset management firm Rare Enterprises. His investment portfolio consists of 24 stocks with a total value of around Rs 18,000 crore. His top holdings include Titan, Lupin and Crisil.

First Published:Jan 28, 2020 9:01 AM IST