The scam had been running for over ten years in Mahoba district, Uttar Pradesh. Many villagers invested their hard-earned money, but when they asked for their returns after the promised period, they received false assurances. Eventually, the company shut down its operations and its officials disappeared.
Bollywood and Marathi film actor Shreyas Talpade, along with 14 others, has been named in a fraud case in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly cheating hundreds of villagers through a chit fund scheme. The case has been registered at Srinagar police station, and investigations are underway.
According to reports, the accused were operating a company called ‘The Loni Urban Multistate Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society Limited‘ (LUCC). Agents of this company allegedly lured villagers with promises of doubling their money in a short period through various investment schemes like Fixed Deposits (FD), Recurring Deposits (RD), and Sukanya schemes.
The scam had been running for over ten years in Mahoba district, Uttar Pradesh. Many villagers invested their hard-earned money, but when they asked for their returns after the promised period, they received false assurances. Eventually, the company shut down its operations and its officials disappeared.
Thirty victims, including Narayan Das, Lakhan, Prakash, Kishore, Devendra, Ramesh Aggarwal, Brijgopal, and Kapuri Devi, approached the police. They revealed that LUCC had set up an office at Lalit Vishwakarma’s residence in Manoharganj, Uttar Pradesh. Lalit was the branch manager of the company.
The villagers alleged that agents convinced them to invest, promising high returns in a short time. When they demanded their money back, the company gave excuses and later vanished.
FIRs Registered in Multiple States
An FIR has been registered against Shreyas Talpade and other accused in Srinagar. The other individuals named in the case include Sameer Aggarwal, his wife Sania (Mumbai), RK Shetty, Sanjay Mudgil, Lalit Vishwakarma, Dalchandra Kushwaha, Sunil Vishwakarma, Sachin Rackwar, Kamal Rackwar, Sunil Kumar, Mahesh Rackwar, Mohan Kushwaha, Jitendra Namdev, and Narayan Singh Rajput.
Apart from Jammu and Kashmir, cases have also been filed in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
In Lucknow, an FIR was registered against Shreyas Talpade and five other members of the cooperative society at Gomti Nagar Police Station. They were accused of duping investors of over ₹9 crore.
In Sonipat, Haryana, an FIR was filed against Talpade and 12 others for allegedly running a multi-level marketing fraud.
Speaking on the case, Additional Commissioner of Police, Murthal, Sonipat, Ajeet Singh, said:
“It has been alleged that they were its brand ambassadors and victims get lured to invest because of such personalities… They were named in the complaint. An FIR has been registered. Now, it will be investigated what was their role.”
As per the complaint, the company initially paid the promised returns for a few years to gain investor trust. However, in 2023, the payments stopped, and the company cited “system upgradation” as the reason for delays.
“When the investors and agents approached the Society officials regarding these problems, they were given false assurances. Gradually, the owners of the Society ended all contact and the investors did not get their hard-earned money back.”
The police are actively investigating the scam to uncover the full extent of the fraud and determine the role of each accused person, including Shreyas Talpade. Many victims are still coming forward with their complaints, and the authorities are working to recover the lost money.
