India: ED arrests Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in money laundering case
File photo of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal.
Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday (September 1) in a bank fraud-related money laundering case, said officials.
Goyal was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the long questioning session at the office of the Enforcement Directorate ended in Mumbai.
On Saturday, 74-year-old Goyal will be produced in a special PMLA court in Mumbai, where his custodial remand will be sought by the ED.
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In the month of May, a fraud case was registered by the CBI and later a money-laundering case was filed by the ED. The bank in November 2022 had filed a complaint of alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal misconduct and criminal conspiracy against Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita, Gaurang Shetty, and public servants, along with others.
The airline is being investigated by the agency for allegedly defaulting loans which led to a wrongful loss of Rs 539 crore ($65.179 million) to Canara Bank.
Siphoning off funds
The FIR, which was filed on the complaint of the bank alleged that it had sanctioned credit limits and loans to Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL) to the tune of Rs 848.86 crore ($102.60 million), out of which Rs 538.62 crore was outstanding.
The CBI had earlier said that the account was declared "fraud" in July 2021. The bank stated that the forensic audit of JIL showed that Rs 1,410.41 crore ($170.47 million) was paid by it to the "related companies" out of total commission expenses, which hinted at siphoning off funds from JIL.
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The FIR stated that the personal expenses of the Goyal family like phone bills, salaries of staff, and vehicle expenses, among others, were paid by JIL.
During the forensic audit, it was also found that the funds were siphoned off through Jet Lite (India) Ltd (JLL) by making advance and finally writing off the same by making provisions. It was alleged that the funds for the subsidiary JLL were diverted by JIL in the form of advances, loans and extended investments.
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