NEW DELHI, April 1, 2026: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a proclaimed offender, Sameer Joshi, in a long-pending financial fraud case involving alleged misappropriation of funds from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
According to a CBI, the case dates back to August 13, 2012, when the agency registered an FIR based on a complaint from LIC’s Lucknow office.
The complaint alleged that accused individuals fraudulently claimed LIC policy amounts using forged cheques in the names of non-existent policyholders.
The scam involved diversion of funds and manipulation of accounts, covering up a fraud worth over ₹6.37 crore between February 2006 and August 2010 at LIC’s Jankipuram branch.
Following an extensive probe, the CBI filed a chargesheet on August 21, 2014, against 12 accused, including Sameer Joshi.
Investigations revealed that Joshi, along with co-accused Pankaj Saxena, then a Higher Grade Assistant with LIC, orchestrated the fraud by preparing fake cheques in the names of Sameer Joshi, his wife Anju Joshi, and an associate Jitendra Kumar.
The proceeds—amounting to around ₹62 lakh—were allegedly encashed and shared among the accused.
Joshi was initially arrested during the investigation but later secured bail. However, he jumped bail and remained absconding for years.
A court subsequently declared him a proclaimed offender on December 24, 2025.
Acting on fresh intelligence inputs, CBI officials tracked Joshi to a metro station in Lucknow, where he was apprehended on March 31, 2026.
He was produced before the competent trial court the same day, which remanded him to judicial custody.
The arrest marks a significant breakthrough in the decade-old fraud case, with further proceedings now set to continue in court.
