From Silver Screen to Scam: The Baghpat Ponzi Web That Drew In 500 Investors, Two Bollywood Faces, and ₹5 Crore in Vanished Dreams
The story begins like a small-town thriller — a promise of prosperity, familiar faces on screen, and dreams sold with the polish of celebrity charm.
By the time it all fell apart, over 500 investors across western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had watched their savings evaporate into thin air — along with the people who took them.
At the center of this mystery is the Loni Urban Multi-State Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society Limited, a company that marketed itself as a trustworthy financial haven.
Its posters glimmered with the faces of two well-known Bollywood actors — Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath — their smiles and endorsements enough to make farmers, shopkeepers, and small traders believe their money was in safe hands.
The rise of a dream
In dusty lanes of Baghpat, Shamli, and Meerut, agents of the cooperative fanned out like missionaries of fortune.
They spoke of schemes that could double your money, of Sukanya Yojanas, Ayushman plans, fixed and recurring deposits, and even ATM-linked savings policies.
The brochures looked legitimate. The office fronts were polished. The brand ambassadors were celebrities.
For ordinary people, the line between hope and caution blurred. They handed over their savings — from ₹10,000 to ₹5 lakh — trusting the company’s promise of high returns.
The vanishing act
Then, without warning, the illusion cracked. Offices shuttered overnight. Phone numbers went silent.
The company’s executives — a network of names stretching from Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai — vanished without a trace.
When panic spread, investors found one another — hundreds of them — all with the same story. Together, they reached out to authorities, led by a local woman named Babli, who filed the first formal complaint.
The case landed at the desk of Superintendent of Police Suraj Kumar Rai in Baghpat.
“The society collected deposits from over 500 people and then disappeared,” Rai told media persons.
“The complainant also mentioned that two actors had advertised for the firm, adding to its credibility.”
The investigation widens
On October 20, police filed an FIR against 22 accused under sections 318(4) and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, and relevant provisions of the Society Registration Act.
The alleged fraud: nearly ₹5 crore.
The victims: hundreds of families across western UP.
The trail: digital transactions, bank accounts, and mobile apps are now under forensic scrutiny.
Police teams have frozen accounts, seized documents, and are tracing fund movements across multiple states.
Investigators revealed that a similar FIR had already been filed in Uttarakhand, hinting that the operation may have had a multi-state Ponzi network running under the same name.
Bollywood’s shadow in the scam
For many victims, what sealed their trust was the sight of Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath — respectable actors — appearing in advertisements for the cooperative society.
Their presence, victims say, gave the scheme a veneer of legitimacy.
The two actors, named in the FIR, were reportedly brand ambassadors, though police are now investigating whether they had any direct involvement beyond promotional appearances.
For now, officials have not clarified if summons or notices have been issued to them.
The hunt for the missing money
Investigators are now peeling back the layers of this operation — one that seemed to mix glamour, greed, and deception with unnerving precision.
“We are examining digital transactions and may involve the Economic Offenses Wing,” said a police officer.
Each lead points to a deeper network — accounts linked across states, cash withdrawals routed through shell agents, and a paper trail that fades just as the story gets darker.
In Baghpat, the victims wait — elderly men, housewives, young professionals — all bound by a shared betrayal.
Their savings are gone, but their anger remains sharp. For them, the glitzy posters that once promised financial freedom now serve as haunting reminders of a dream turned to dust.
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