Hyderabad: In a major development in the alleged Falcon invoice discounting fraud that left thousands of investors in distress, Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested Falcon Capital Protection Force Private Ltd chairman and managing director Amardeep Kumar in a money laundering case involving alleged proceeds of crime worth Rs 792 crore.He was produced before the economic offences wing court, which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. He was subsequently shifted to Cherlapally prison.Kumar was brought to Hyderabad from Tihar Central Jail on a prisoner transit warrant. He had earlier been arrested by the Delhi police in a separate case. According to investigators, Kumar fled to Dubai in Jan 2025 and was later detained at Mumbai airport in Jan this year after authorities issued a look-out circular against him.The ED said Kumar was arrested under section 19 of the PMLA, citing his alleged non-cooperation with the investigation and the need to trace and recover the proceeds of crime. So far, assets worth only Rs 20.66 crore have been provisionally attached by the agency.Invoice discounting schemeThe ED’s investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is based on FIRs alleging that Kumar and his associates mobilised Rs 4,215 crore from investors through an invoice discounting scheme. Investors were allegedly promised returns ranging from 11% to 21% on invoices purportedly raised to major companies.According to the ED, Falcon had no genuine underlying business activity and used Rs 3,422 crore collected from investors to repay earlier investors before halting repayments in Jan 2025. The ED identified the outstanding principal amount of Rs 792 crore as proceeds of crime.Funds routed overseasThe ED alleged that the funds were subsequently diverted through investments and unsecured loans to several companies. Investigators found that money was routed towards assets and entities in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.Kumar is also accused of acquiring properties in Rangareddy district and a Hawker 800A aircraft owned by Prestige Jets Inc that was being used as an air ambulance. The ED further alleged that Rs 5.74 crore was transferred to his brother Sandeep Kumar or companies linked to him.
