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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has detained Jet Airlines founder Naresh Goyal in connection with an alleged Rs 538 crore money laundering scheme involving Canara Bank.
During a lengthy interrogation session at the ED's Mumbai headquarters, Mr. Goyal was taken into prison under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On Saturday, the 74-year-old is going to be brought before a special PMLA court in Mumbai, where the ED will seek his detention in custody.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) against Jet Airlines, Mr. Goyal, his wife Anita, and several former business officials in connection with an alleged Rs 538 crore fraud case at Canara Bank. The FIR was launched in response to the bank's complaint, which said that it sanctioned credit limits and loans totaling Rs 848.86 crore to Jet Airlines (India) Ltd. (JIL), of which Rs 538.62 crore is still unpaid.
The CBI labeled the account "fraudulent" in July 2021, alleging that a forensic investigation of JIL found that it paid "associated entities" Rs 1,410.41 crore in commission costs, siphoning revenues away from JIL. The FIR further said that JIL covered personal costs such as employee wages, phone bills, and automobile expenses for the Goyal family.
It was also discovered during the forensic audit that monies were siphoned off through Jet Lite (India) Ltd. (JLL) by making advances, investing, and then writing off the same by making provisions. JIL allegedly diverted the funds for the subsidiary JLL in the form of loans, advances, and extended investments. The ED's arrest of Naresh Goyal is the latest development in this ongoing case.
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