By Bl Ahmedabad Bureau
Copyright thehindubusinessline
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has “restrained” Gujarat-based Seacoast Shipping Services Ltd (SSSL) and its promoters from directly or indirectly accessing the capital markets for a period of five years and ordered them to “disgorge” unlawful gains of ₹47.89 crore earned from the alleged fraudulent activities.
In a 187-page order issued on Wednesday, SEBI upheld the allegations against SSSL and stated that the company, with its registered office in Ahmedabad, “published misrepresented financial statements for the FY21, FY22, FY23 and for the period April 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023. Incorporated in 1982, the public limited company was primarily engaged in the business of shipping and logistics services. Being a small-cap company, it had a market capitalization of ₹272.57 crore as on September 25, 2024.
In its findings, SEBI stated that it has been established that more than 85 per cent of the sales recorded by the Company and more than 98 per cent of the assets held by the Company during the FY21, FY22, FY23, and for the period April 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, were not genuine.
“I find that the act of misstatement/misrepresentation of financial statements and publishing of the same, portrayed an image of the company which was not true/fair. This led to investors not having a timely assessment of the financial position of the company. Further, there are also violations of diversion of funds and corporate governance-related violations. In my opinion, in the facts and circumstances of this case, remedial and penal directions are warranted in this case,” the order noted.
Funds diverted
SEBI also found that the rights issue proceeds were not utilised by the company for the intended purposes and were instead diverted from SSSL. “As a result of the misrepresented financials of the Company, there has been a considerable spike in the retail investor interest in the shares of the Company and the Promoters divested almost their entire stake in the company during the investigation period,” SEBI stated in its summary of findings.
Published on September 25, 2025
