A 27-year-old finance influencer in India, V Harish, was found dead at his home near Chennai on Tuesday morning. His death has been linked to allegations of cyberbullying and has prompted wider debate about who should give financial advice to investors.
Police arrested a YouTuber, Jason Samuel, who is also CEO of the tech-centric venture studio Zemuria, on Thursday. Police said he was held on suspicion of trying to “extort money from Harish” and posting “defamatory videos against him on social media”. Reporters have not been able to reach Samuel for comment, but he had earlier denied wrongdoing in a post on X.
How Harish built a large following on Instagram
Harish ran a popular Instagram account called “Finance with Harish”. He began posting videos about finance and investing around five years ago, and over time he published more than 1,500 videos and gained more than 1.3 million followers. He described himself as a financial adviser to “millionaires” and “high-net-worth individuals”.
He often used music, film clips and photos of global political leaders in dramatic videos about the rise and fall of the share market and the prices of gold and silver. His videos explained financial issues in simple terms, and they grew popular as India’s retail investor base expanded rapidly, especially after the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
The country’s largest stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange, said earlier this year that it had more than 130 million unique investors registered with it. In 2019, that figure was under 30 million.
In September, Meta removed Harish’s Instagram page after receiving complaints that he was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Registration with the regulator is required by law for anyone offering investment advice or managing client portfolios. A back-up account, which quickly gained over 60,000 followers, was also taken down after complaints from social media users and others. A few other accounts in his name remain online with much smaller followings, and it is not clear who runs them.
Father’s complaint and the police case against Samuel
Harish’s father, J Vinayagam, lodged a complaint at the Kanathur police station near Chennai. He alleged that his son took his own life because of online harassment by Samuel. Police said the father blamed “cyberbullying, defamatory social media posts and repeated blocking of his channels” for the death.
According to the complaint, Samuel posted a video on his YouTube channel on 18 October questioning Harish’s credentials, noting that he had no Sebi or Amfi (Association of Mutual Funds in India) registrations. In the video, Samuel also mentioned that Harish’s Instagram account had been disabled after complaints. Vinayagam says this triggered severe online harassment and pressures that drove his son to suicide.
The complaint was registered under “abetment to suicide”. A police statement said preliminary investigations had found that Samuel had a “role in this case”, and that he “will be produced before court and sent to judicial custody”. The father’s complaint demands “a proper investigation” and legal action against Samuel and his accomplices.
Samuel defends his video and the wider debate over advice
Samuel has defended the video, saying he was acting in the consumer interest. In a statement on X, he said he was “deeply saddened, heavily grieving, shocked and frozen” by what had happened and that he mourned the loss of life. He rejected the allegations of cyberbullying against Harish.
“I have not cyber-bullied him,” Samuel wrote. “I pointed out his lack of licence and authority, misrepresentation of licence and fraud.” He added that he had asked Harish in the video to return and work with a proper Sebi licence, and said he “never intended or expected this drastic measure to happen”.
According to Harish’s friends and family, he recorded a video message before his death in which he said that “five years of hard work has been stolen” from him. The video, which has been widely shared on social media, shows him speaking in Tamil before switching to English to say “I’m very sorry” to his parents, sister, friends and followers.
The case has drawn attention to the growing influence of financial content creators in India, where millions of first-time investors increasingly turn to social media for market advice. People experiencing thoughts of suicide can find support lines in India through the AASRA website, or worldwide through Befrienders Worldwide. In the UK, the Samaritans can be reached on 116 123.
