Two Arrested in Rs 850-Crore Ponzi Scheme in Hyderabad
The Cyberabad Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested two people for their involvement in a massive Rs 850-crore Ponzi scheme. The scheme was linked to the Falcon Invoice Discounting Platform, which tricked nearly 7,000 investors by promising high returns on short-term deposits.
The arrested individuals are Pavan Kumar Odela, Vice President of Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd and Business Head of Falcon, and Kavya Nalluri, Director of Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd and Falcon Capital Ventures Pvt Ltd. The scheme had collected a total of Rs 1,700 crore, but Rs 850 crore remains unpaid. It began operating in 2021 but collapsed on January 15, 2025, stopping all promised returns.
After receiving complaints from investors, the police registered a case under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Telangana State Protection of Depositors Act. The main accused, Amardeep Kumar, who is the Managing Director of Falcon Capital Ventures Pvt Ltd, along with COO Aryan Singh and CEO Yogender Singh, misled investors. They falsely claimed that Falcon was a legal peer-to-peer invoice discounting platform and said they had partnerships with well-known companies like Britannia, Amazon, and Godrej. However, these claims were fake, and they created false vendor profiles and deals.
Investors were promised annual returns of 11% to 22% on deposits ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 9 lakh. The maturity periods were between 45 and 180 days. Instead of using the money for legitimate business, the accused diverted funds to create 14 companies in different sectors. These included Coin Trade (a cryptocurrency firm), UKIYO Resort in Goa, Prestige Jets in Dubai, Falcon International Properties in Dubai, and several IT, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing businesses. The accused had also been involved in fraudulent multi-level marketing schemes through Blulife International Company in the past.
The police are continuing their investigation to recover the stolen funds and identify any other people involved. The Cyberabad Police have advised the public to always verify financial firms through SEBI and RBI before investing in schemes that promise high returns.
