Telangana CID arrests Worldline executive in multi-crore Falcon fraud case
23 Jun 2026, 12:55 PMThe agency has arrested Worldline India EVP for allegedly facilitating transactions linked to the Falcon Invoice Discounting fraud.
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The Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a senior executive of payments company Worldline India for allegedly facilitating transactions linked to the Falcon Invoice Discounting fraud, a scheme that investigators say collected more than Rs 4,200 crore from investors across the country.
The agency has said it arrested Sheik Mohideen, Executive Vice President of Worldline E-Payment Gateway, alleging that he colluded with the scheme's operators and enabled the collection of investor funds by providing payment gateway services. Investigators alleged that Worldline earned around Rs 7.53 crore in transaction-related revenues from the platform's operations.
The CID has not alleged that Worldline itself operated the Falcon platform. However, investigators claim the arrested executive played a role in facilitating the movement of investor funds through the payment gateway infrastructure provided to the scheme.
The arrest marks the latest development in the probe into Falcon Invoice Discounting, an investment platform operated by Hyderabad-based Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd. The platform offered investors opportunities to finance invoices allegedly raised by large corporations in exchange for short-term returns.
According to the CID, Falcon created fictitious investment opportunities in the names of reputed multinational companies and used promises of attractive returns to attract deposits. Investigators allege the platform collected around Rs 4,215 crore from 7,056 investors nationwide, with more than 4,000 investors allegedly losing a combined Rs 792 crore.
Authorities have registered cases under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Telangana State Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999. Several individuals, including company directors, executives and a chartered accountant, have previously been arrested in connection with the case.
Investigators believe the platform operated as a Ponzi scheme since 2021, using funds from new investors to pay returns to earlier participants while diverting money through a network of shell companies. The operation allegedly collapsed in January 2025 after payouts stopped and Falcon's Hyderabad office was shut down, triggering complaints from investors.
The development comes at a time when Worldline's India business is undergoing a change in ownership. Earlier this year, BillDesk agreed to acquire the Indian operations of French payments major Worldline in a deal valued at around €60 million, ending a prolonged sale process that attracted interest from multiple payments firms. The transaction was expected to be completed in the second half of 2026 subject to the completion of customary processes.
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