The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Hyderabad unit on Wednesday arrested Sharad Chandra Toshniwal, a chartered accountant, in connection with the ongoing Falcon invoice discounting fraud case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Toshniwal was produced before the Special PMLA Court, which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody. The arrest follows investigations based on three FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing, Cyberabad, accusing Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd, Amardeep Kumar, and others of fraudulent activities. The accused allegedly duped investors by promising high returns through the Falcon invoice discounting scheme but failed to repay investments.
The Fraudulent Scheme and Toshniwal’s Role
ED’s probe revealed that Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd launched the Falcon invoice discounting scheme claiming to offer funds for invoice discounts and returns linked to those invoices. However, no genuine business of invoice discounting was carried out. The mastermind, Amardeep Kumar, developed the Falcon invoice app to collect deposits from investors, cheating them of approximately ₹792 crore. Toshniwal, who was the statutory auditor of Capital Protection Force since its inception, was found to be fully aware of the fraudulent transactions. The investigation further highlighted his involvement in managing finances for Amardeep Kumar and his family’s entities.
Money Laundering and Asset Concealment
Investigators found Toshniwal assisted in laundering the proceeds of crime by investing in companies including Rhett Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Rhett Herbal Pvt Ltd, RDP Workstations Pvt Ltd, and Swastik Ghee Pvt Ltd. He acquired shares in these companies in the names of relatives and benamis. The chartered accountant also arranged ₹14 crore cash to facilitate concealment of illegal funds. Earlier, ED had attached assets worth ₹18 crore and arrested Amardeep Kumar’s brother, Sandeep Kumar, in connection with the scam.
This arrest is a significant development in the Falcon scam case, strengthening the ED’s efforts to crack down on elaborate financial frauds and money laundering rackets.
