Naresh Goyal, the founder of Jet Airways, was detained by the ED in connection with an alleged 538 crore bank fraud at Canara Bank.
Naresh Goyal, the founder of Jet Airways, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate late on Friday night in connection with an alleged 538 crore bank fraud at the Canara Bank, according to official sources. After an extended period of interrogation at the central agency’s office, he was taken into custody in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). For “causing wrongful loss” to the lender, Canara Bank had filed a complaint in May against the airline, Goyal, his wife, and a former airline director.
On Saturday, Goyal, 74, is anticipated to appear before a special PMLA court in Mumbai where the ED would ask for his custody remand.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a FIR against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita, and a few former business officials in relation to an alleged 538 crore fraud case at the Canara Bank, which gave rise to the money laundering case.
The bank filed the FIR after claiming that it had granted Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL) credit limits and loans totaling 848.86 crore, of which 538.62 crore is still unpaid.
The account was allegedly designated “fraud” on July 29, 2021, according to the CBI.
The bank said that JIL’s forensic investigation revealed that it siphoned off money from JIL by paying “related companies” 1,410.41 crore out of total commission expenses.
According to a sample agreement from Jet Airways (India) Ltd. (JIL), it was specified that General Selling Agents’ (GSA) fees were to be covered by GSA alone, not by JIL. However, it was discovered that JIL had paid various charges totaling $403.27 crore that weren’t authorized by the GSA, according to the complaint that is now a part of the CBI FIR.
The ED conducted raids earlier in July and encompassed several cities, including Delhi and Mumbai.
The FIR listed Jet Airways (India) Limited, Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal, Gaurang Ananda Shetty, as well as unidentified Public Servant(s) and Private Person(s) as defendants.
As stated in the FIR into the case, “M/s Jet Airways (India) Ltd., Naresh Jagdishrai Goyal, Anita Naresh Goyal, Gaurang Ananda Shetty and unknown public servants and others have submitted regarding alleged offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and criminal misconduct committed by M/s Jet Airways (India) Ltd.
It went on to say that a forensic audit of Jet Airways (India) Ltd’s records had “revealed fraudulent features like diversion and siphoning of funds.”
