MUMBAI, Aug. 19 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen and seized assets worth around Rs.37.13 crore during searches in Mumbai and Bhopal in connection with an alleged Rs.10,000-crore Ponzi scam run by a business group allegedly controlled by S Agrawal, the agency said on Tuesday. The group is accused of fraudulently collecting more than Rs.10,000 crore from the public through a network of cooperative societies and investment schemes. A few cooperative societies, including the Loni Urban Multi-State Credit and Thrift Co-operative Society (LUCC) and other affiliated societies, are under the ED's scanner, officials said. During searches conducted from Thursday to Sunday at multiple residential and business premises of accused persons and suspects associated with the business group, the ED seized suspicious documents and froze proceeds of crime worth around Rs.30 crore. These included listed shares and securities, mutual fund instruments, insurance policies and bank balances. The agency also seized Rs.1.53 crore in cash, foreign currency worth Rs.35 lakh, and gold jewellery and silver bullion valued at Rs.5.25 crore. The ED launched its money-laundering investigation following several cases registered by police in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other states against LUCC and its affiliated cooperative societies. According to the cases, since 2009, the group had allegedly induced members of the public to invest in recurring deposit, fixed deposit and monthly-income schemes by promising extraordinarily high returns....