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Axis Mutual Fund on Wednesday terminated the employment of Chief trader and fund manager Viresh Joshi, with immediate effect, the fund house said in a release.
On 4 May, Axis AMC had suspended Joshi and another fund manager.
Axis MF, in an official statement, said, “Axis AMC has been conducting a suo moto internal investigation since February 2022, using reputed external advisors to assist with this investigation."
“Further to our ongoing investigation, his conduct and following the decision to suspend him, the employment of Mr Viresh Joshi (Chief trader and fund manager) with Axis AMC and Axis Mutual Fund," the company said.
Accordingly, Joshi ceases to be a key person of Axis AMC, the fund house said.
Mint had earlier reported that Joshi allegedly shared confidential information about the asset manager’s trades with brokers in Gujarat in return for kickbacks.
“Tips were apparently shared through WhatsApp and screenshots of internal Bloomberg chats. The information shared with outside brokers was used by seven entities in Gujarat who traded on these tips in large numbers. Some of these entities were shell companies," a person with knowledge of the matter had said.
Axis Mutual Fund’s preliminary report on the front-running scam found that the suspended fund managers—Viresh Joshi and Deepak Agarwal—had assets disproportionate to their known income and violated Sebi’s code of conduct for fund managers and dealers.
Joshi was the head dealer and fund manager of five mutual fund schemes at Axis Mutual Fund, while Agarwal was the equity research analyst and fund manager for three mutual fund schemes.
