Cricket legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni unwittingly finds himself entangled in an illicit market advice scheme run by finfluencers Ankit Jain and Srujan Sadanand Gaurkar through their social media handle, Investographer1. Exploiting Dhoni’s iconic stature, the duo unlawfully sells investment advice, using a photo with Dhoni to promote their services and enhance brand credibility.

Investographer1, with about 7 lakh followers, operates in a regulatory grey area, offering backtested trading strategies through a service called “Mastering Technical Analysis” for a fee. This service could potentially be viewed as investment advice, violating Investment Advisor (IA) Regulations, as Investographer1 is not a registered investment advisor with SEBI.

The platform disseminates advice through various channels, including YouTube and a paid group named “Big Bulls Club,” which charges a hefty fee for membership. Legal experts suggest that some of the content, including YouTube videos, qualifies as investment advice, violating IA Regulations, especially if it generates advertisement revenue.

While Dhoni is entangled in this scheme due to the misuse of his image, legal experts clarify that he cannot be held liable for endorsing Investographer’s services. Dhoni is an investor in the content-creator platform Rigi, which organized the event where the Investographer founders took a photograph with him.

Investographer1’s paid group, Big Bulls Club, comes with a disclaimer, but legal experts argue that such disclaimers may not be a strong defense, referring to an interim ex-parte order by SEBI in June 2023. Rigi, the platform involved, emphasizes that it operates as a technology service provider and is not actively earning from the advisory service.

Investographer1’s operations, Dhoni’s image misuse, and the regulatory implications highlight the challenges and potential violations within the influencer-driven financial advisory space.

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