Enforcement Directorate seizes business jet in Hyderabad

The Enforcement Directorate has seized a business jet parked at the Hyderabad airport as part of a money laundering investigation against a Hyderabad-based company and its promoters who allegedly duped investors in a Rs 850 crore Ponzi “scam”.

The case stems from a Cyberabad police FIR against Falcon Group (Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd), its CMD Amar Deep Kumar and some others, official sources said on Saturday. It is alleged that the group “collected” Rs 1,700 crore from investors for high returns through a “fraudulent” invoice discounting investment scheme. Rs 850 crore, out of the total funds, was re-paid leaving a total of 6,979 investors unpaid, according to the sources. Kumar, the sources said, fled the country using this jet. He or his company could not be contacted immediately for a response on the charges.

Officials from the ED’s Hyderabad office found that the 8-seater business jet ‘N935H Hawker 800A’ (owned by a company of Kumar) landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International airport on Friday. The agency believes that the jet was purchased for about Rs 14 crore in 2024 from the “proceeds of crime” of the Ponzi scheme.