ZEE founder Subhash Chandra has accused Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of bias, corruption and unethical behaviour. He said, 'I believe the SEBI chairman is corrupt because before she joined SEBI, her and her husband's combined income was around Rs 1 crore per annum, which has now increased to Rs 40-50 crore per annum. This should be investigated by media and investigative agencies, including analysis of settled and compounded cases and consultation fees paid by companies. These are the many ways in which she and her husband extort money from companies and corrupt operators and stock market fund managers. Rejecting all Chandra's allegations, a Sebi official said, 'These are opportunistic comments and completely baseless.' Madhabi Puri Buch responsible for collapse of Zee Entertainment and Sony merger deal Chandra also held Madhabi Puri Buch responsible for the collapse of the Zee Entertainment and Sony merger deal. He said- Due to SEBI's action, the $10 billion merger between Zee and Japan's Sony's Indian unit was cancelled. Chandra said the Zee-Sony merger is progressing well and has also received approval from the stock exchange. But Sebi asked BSE/NSE to interfere in the NCLT proceedings and intimidate Sony, which ultimately led to Sony canceling the merger. Due to which the small shareholders suffered huge losses. Chandra, accused of illegally taking crores of rupees from ICICI Bank, also alleged that former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar was paying 'huge sums' to Buch and that the two spoke on the phone at least 20 times a day. Chandra said, 'It has come to light this morning that she was illegally taking crores of rupees from ICICI Bank.' In 2023, the promoters of a SEBI company were charged with fraud.Sebi, in an order in August 2023, barred Chandra and his son Punit Goenka from holding key positions in four group companies. In June 2023, SEBI also charged the promoters of Shirpur Gold Refinery, an Essel Group company, with fraud and fund diversion.
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Subhash Chandra said- I believe SEBI chairperson is corrupt: Madhabi Puri Buch also held responsible for Zee Entertainment and Sony merger deal collapse
