The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Jet Airways' founder Naresh Goyal on the night of September 1 in connection with a money laundering case liked to alleged bank fraud of Rs 538 crore at Canara Bank, according to officials.
Naresh Goyal was detained under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after an extensive round of questioning at the central agency's office in Mumbai.
The ED conducted searches against Naresh Goyal and others on July 19 this year, and raided six-seven premises in Mumbai and some other locations as part of the investigation being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
An FIR lodged was lodged earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former company executives in connection with an alleged Rs 538-crore fraud at the Canara Bank.
The CBI FIR came about on the basis of the Canara Bank's complaint, alleging that it had sanctioned credit limits and loans to Jet Airways (India) Limited (JIL) to the tune of Rs 848.86 crore, of which an amount of Rs 538.62 crore is outstanding. Jet Airways has since been grounded and the CBI said the account was declared "fraud" on July 29, 2021.
The bank alleged that the forensic audit of JIL showed that it paid Rs 1,410.41 crore to "related companies" out of the total commission expenses, thus siphoning off funds from JIL.
"As per the sample agreement of Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL), it was noted that the expenses of General Selling Agents (GSA) was to be borne by GSA itself and nor by JIL. However, it was observed that JIL has paid various expenses amounting to Rs 403.27 crore, which is not in tune with the GSA," the complaint, which is now part of the CBI FIR, alleged.
Among other allegations, it surfaced during the forensic audit that funds were also siphoned off through Jet Lite (India) Limited (JLL) by way of making advance payments and investing and subsequently writing off of the same by making provisions.
The JIL diverted the funds for its subsidiary, JLL, in the form of loans and advances and investments extended, the complaint alleged.
(With inputs from PTI)
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