Hyderabad: Enforcement Directorate (ED) Hyderabad unit on Wednesday arrested Sharad Chandra Toshniwal, a chartered accountant, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an ongoing investigation of the Falcon invoice discounting fraud. A case was booked against Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd, Amardeep Kumar, and others. Toshniwal was produced before the Special PMLA Court, which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.ED had initiated an investigation based on three FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing, Cyberabad, in which it was alleged that the accused fraudulently cheated gullible investors on the pretext of high returns on their investments.The ED investigation revealed that Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd started the ‘Falcon invoice discounting scheme’, luring investors on the pretext of providing funds for invoice discounting in exchange for promising returns based on the invoices discounted. The accused failed to repay their invested amounts. Amardeep Kumar was the mastermind behind the scam, and he developed the Falcon invoice app to receive deposits from the investors. The ED investigation revealed that, in reality, no business of invoice discounting was carried out, and the accused cheated investors to the tune of 792 crore.The ED investigation also revealed that Toshniwal was the statutory auditor of Capital Protection Force Pvt. Ltd. since its incorporation. ED stated that the accused auditor was fully aware of the fraudulent transactions carried out in Capital Protection Force Pvt. Ltd. in the name of the ‘Falcon invoice discounting business’. Toshniwal was managing the finances of several entities belonging to Amardeep Kumar and his family members. The investigation revealed that Toshniwal assisted Amardeep Kumar in investing the proceeds of crime (POC) generated from the invoice discounting business into several companies such as Rhett Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Rhett Herbal Pvt. Ltd., RDP Workstations Pvt. Ltd., and Swastik Ghee Pvt. Ltd. For his services in laundering the POC, Toshniwal had himself acquired shares in the said companies in the names of his relatives and benamis. The chartered accountant was also involved in arranging cash in lieu of the transfer of POC to different entities without any business purpose. He was directly responsible for arranging 14 crore cash and thus played an active role in the concealment of POC.ED had earlier attached movable and immovable properties worth 18 crore in the case and arrested Sandeep Kumar, the brother of the main accused, Amardeep Kumar.
