The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized a business jet parked at the Hyderabad airport as part of a money-laundering probe against a Hyderabad-based company and its promoters who allegedly cheated investors in a ₹850-crore Ponzi scam, sources said on Saturday.

The jet (Hawker 800A), worth around ₹14 crore, was allegedly used by Falcon Group chairman and managing director and prime accused Amar Deep Kumar to flee India on January 22.

The ED has claimed that proceeds from the Falcon Group’s Ponzi scheme were diverted to purchase the jet.

The Falcon Group allegedly collected ₹17,000 crore from a large number of
investors, promising high returns through a fraudulent investment scheme. Sources said ₹850 crore, out of the total funds, was paid back, leaving a total of 6,979 investors unpaid.

The ED had registered the money-laundering case on the basis of an FIR registered by Cyberabad police against Falcon Group (Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd), its CMD and some others.

A search of the jet, purchased last year, was conducted by ED officials on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They also recorded the statement of the crew and some “close associates” of Kumar present there, sources said.

The business jet, owned by Kumar’s private charter company, Prestige Jets Inc, was seized after the search.

“We got to know that the eight-seater business jet landed at the international airport on Friday. The agency contacted the customs department about the movement of the
jet, following which it was discovered that Kumar and another person used it to flee the country on January 22,” an ED official said.

Cyberabad police have also arrested the vice-president and director of Falcon Group as part of its investigation.