SC shields Bollywood actor Shreyas Talpade from arrest in multi-crore scam case

New Delhi, July 21 The Supreme Court, in an interim order passed on Monday, granted protection from arrest to Bollywood actor Shreyas Talpade, following multiple FIRs filed against him in different states for allegedly duping people of crores through a chit fund scheme.

A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and KV Viswanathan issued notices to the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as to the Centre and posted the writ petition filed by Shreyas Talpade — seeking direction to club multiple FIRs and transfer of the investigation to Lucknow— for further hearing on August 29.

In the meantime, the Justice Nagarathna-led Bench ordered that no coercive steps would be taken against the petitioner in connection with the alleged fraud cases. Shreyas Talpade and other accused were allegedly running a company named ‘The Loni Urban Multistate Credit and Thrift Cooperative Society Limited,’ which promised villagers lucrative returns on their investments. Agents of the company lured hundreds of people by assuring them that their money would double in a short span. However, after collecting crores from unsuspecting villagers, the company reportedly shut down operations and fled.

The fraudulent scheme had been operational in Mahoba for the past 10 years before coming under legal scrutiny. In February this year, an FIR was registered against Shreyas Talpade and actor Alok Nath in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly duping investors of over Rs 9 crore. Alok Nath and Shreyas Talpade, along with five members of a credit cooperative society, were booked in a fraud case at Gomti Nagar Police Station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Previously, they, along with 11 others, were implicated in a similar case in Sonipat, Haryana, connected to a multi-level marketing fraud. The controversy centres around a cooperative society that had been soliciting investments for six years, assuring high returns. Reportedly, Alok Nath and Shreyas Talpade had promoted the investment schemes of the society, lending credibility to the fraudulent operation.

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