Sebi levied fines totalling Rs 7.5 crore on 21 entitiesNEW DELHI: Capital market regulator Sebi on Friday levied fines totalling Rs 7.5 crore on 21 entities, including Axis Mutual Fund's former fund manager Viresh Joshi, and barred them from securities markets for up to seven years in a case related to front-running allegations. Front-running refers to an illegal practice in the stock market where an entity trades on the basis of advance information from a broker or analyst before the information has been made available to their clients.Also, the Rs 30.6 crore impounded in compliance with directions of the interim order dated Feb 28, 2023 shall be treated as the disgorgement amount for all the entities, the regulator said in an 146-page final order. The regulator has also directed these entities to pay 12% annual interest on the disgorgement amount. Sebi said it had concluded that "Viresh, Sumit Desai, Pranav Vora, Vaibhav and along with the other noticees, namely, the Kurani Group apart from Prijesh, the Marfatia Group and the Jajoo Group colluded to execute a scheme to front run the orders of the Big Client". Agencies