The Making of a Market Manipulator
Ketan Parekh, born on December 23, 1967, in Mumbai, pursued a Chartered Accountancy career before entering stock broking with Narbheram Harakchand Securities. His significant early exposure came from working with Harshad Mehta at GrowMore Investments in the early 1990s. This experience with Mehta, who was involved in the 1992 stock market scam, provided Parekh with insights into market manipulation techniques and regulatory loopholes. These foundational experiences shaped Parekh’s later strategies for exploiting market inefficiencies, ultimately leading to his notorious stock market scandal.
Ketan Parekh’s Entry into the Stock Game
Ketan Parekh’s entry into the stock market was shaped by his background as a Chartered Accountant and his early career experiences. He began at Narbheram Harakchand Securities, gaining valuable stock broking skills. His pivotal move came when he joined Harshad Mehta at GrowMore Investments, a firm notorious for the 1992 stock market scam. This exposure to financial malpractices and market manipulation provided Parekh with the crucial insights and connections needed to navigate and exploit market inefficiencies, setting the stage for his own notorious stock manipulation scheme.
How Parekh Pulled Off the Scam
Ketan Parekh exploited the Kolkata Stock Exchange’s lax regulations by orchestrating circular trading, which artificially inflated the prices of low-cap stocks like Aftek Infosys and Zee Telefilms. Leveraging his early experience with market manipulation from Narbheram Harakchand Securities and Harshad Mehta’s GrowMore Investments, Parekh created a false sense of high demand. This allowed him to profit by selling overvalued shares, leaving investors with worthless stocks once the prices crashed.
From Scamster to Jailbird
The bubble finally burst, and Ketan Parekh’s grand charade came crashing down. The aftermath was a whirlwind of legal battles and financial ruin. Parekh faced imprisonment, and his stocks, once valued in the thousands, plummeted to a fraction of their former worth. His tangled web of deceit, involving foreign accounts and high-profile connections, left a trail of financial devastation. The Ketan Parekh scandal remains a dark chapter in Indian stock market history, serving as a grim reminder of the perils of market manipulation.
