2 arrested in Rs 850-crore Falcon Invoice fraud case

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW) arrested two individuals involved in a Rs 850-crore Ponzi scheme linked to the Falcon Invoice Discounting Platform. The accused lured 6,979 investors with promises of high returns on short-term deposits.

Police arrested Pavan Kumar Odela, Vice President of Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd & Business Head of Falcon, and Kavya Nalluri, Director of Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd & Falcon Capital Ventures Pvt Ltd.

The total collected deposits amounted to Rs 1,700 crore, of which Rs 850 crore remains unpaid. The scheme, operational since 2021, collapsed on January 15, 2025, halting promised returns.

Following investor complaints, police registered a case under relevant sections of the BNS and Telangana State Protection of Depositors Act. The primary accused, Amardeep Kumar (MD, Falcon Capital Ventures Pvt Ltd), along with COO Aryan Singh and CEO Yogender Singh, misled depositors by falsely presenting Falcon as a legitimate peer-to-peer invoice discounting service. They claimed partnerships with reputed companies like Britannia, Amazon, and Godrej while fabricating vendor profiles and deals.

Investors were promised 11%–22% annual returns on deposits ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 9 lakh, with maturity periods of 45–180 days. Funds were misappropriated to establish 14 companies, including Coin Trade (cryptocurrency), UKIYO Resort (Goa), Prestige Jets (Dubai), Falcon International Properties (Dubai), and several others in IT, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing. The accused had previously engaged in fraudulent multi-level marketing through Blulife International Company.

Police are investigating further to recover misappropriated funds and identify additional culprits. Cyberabad Police urge the public to verify financial firms through SEBI and RBI before investing in high-return schemes.