PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed chargesheet against 18 accused persons/entity in the case pertaining to Loni Urban Multi State Credit and Thrift Co-operative Society (LUCC) chit fund scam of Uttarakhand on Friday in the special court of BUDS Act at Dehradun. The chargesheet has been filed against the main accused Sameer Agrawal and others along with LUCC under various sections of IPC, BNS and Uttarakhand Protection of Interests of Depositors Act and Banning of Unregulated Deposits Schemes Act.
It may be recalled that the Uttarakhand High Court had passed orders transferring all the FIRs pertaining to LUCC chit fund scam to CBI in 2025. In compliance of these orders, the CBI registered a case on November 26 last year under various sections of IPC, BNS and Uttarakhand Protection of Interests of Depositors Act and Banning of Unregulated Deposits Schemes Act against various office bearers of LUCC and others.
According to officials, investigation revealed that LUCC was registered in 2012 as a multi-State co-operative society by one Vajid Khan at the Central Registrar of Societies. The main accused Sameer Agrawal took over the management of LUCC in 2016 and got a new board of directors constituted. After taking over of LUCC by Sameer Agrawal, various unregulated deposit schemes were run by LUCC through more than 50 branches of LUCC located in Uttarakhand. While the NOC towards the functioning of LUCC in Uttarakhand was issued by the Registrar of Societies, Uttarakhand in 2017, the operations of LUCC in Uttarakhand were illegally started by Sameer Agrawal in 2016 itself. Since LUCC had no genuine business and no genuine income/ profit, the maturity payment of deposits of depositors was being made from the fresh deposits being received from new depositors. LUCC was found to be running ponzi schemes to cheat the common public of Uttarakhand, officials added.
Investigation revealed an unprecedented scale of victimisation of the public in the State in which a very large number of investors (estimated to be more than one lakh) were lured to invest in various unregulated deposit schemes of LUCC. The total investment/ deposits made by these depositors is to the tune of Rs 800 crore approximately. Part repayments were made by LUCC to some of the depositors but the fraud amount is more than Rs 400 crore. Investigation revealed that the main accused Mumbai resident Sameer Agrawal is the mastermind behind the operations of LUCC and he controlled the management and decision making of LUCC. He operated the unregulated deposit schemes through LUCC which collected around Rs 800 crore from the depositors of Uttarakhand. He opened the bank accounts of 10 shell firms in conspiracy with Kishanlal Udyalal Jain and Pankaj Kushal Singh Jain for diversion and misappropriation of funds of depositors of Uttarakhand collected by LUCC. Investigation revealed that he and his wife Saniya Agrawal have absconded abroad. CBI has issued notices and circulars against them so that they can be brought back to face the legal process.
