ED Secures Conviction of Sameer Joshi in LIC Cheque Fraud Money Laundering Case
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lucknow Zonal Office, has secured the conviction of Sameer Joshi in a money laundering case linked to the fraudulent encashment of fake Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) cheques. A special PMLA court in Lucknow, in its judgment dated September 15, 2026, sentenced Joshi to three years and six months of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹20,000.
The court convicted Joshi under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. If he fails to pay the fine, he will have to undergo an additional six months of imprisonment.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concerning the alleged fraudulent preparation and encashment of 29 fake LIC cheques worth approximately ₹54.23 lakh.
According to the ED’s investigation, Joshi received the proceeds through multiple bank accounts and subsequently used or transferred the funds for various purposes, including business activities.
The agency identified ₹14,000 as proceeds of crime attributable to Joshi. In March 2018, the ED provisionally attached an equivalent value against his ancestral property. The attachment was later confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority in September 2018.
The underlying scheduled offence was also adjudicated by the CBI court, which convicted Joshi on August 7, 2026, and sentenced him to one year and nine months of imprisonment along with a fine. The sentences in the two cases are to run concurrently.
In a significant part of its ruling, the PMLA court also ordered the confiscation of the property attached against the identified proceeds of crime of ₹14,000 to the Central Government under Section 8(5) of the PMLA, 2002.
The ED said further investigation in the case is ongoing.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
