Bank Fraud: Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal arrested in Rs 538 crore scam, ED takes action

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in a money laundering case related to bank fraud. ED official has given information about this on Friday. Goyal, 74, will be produced before the special PMLA court in Mumbai on Saturday and the ED will seek his custody, the official said.

Official sources said the ED arrested Goyal late on Friday night in a money laundering case related to alleged bank fraud of Rs 538 crore with Canara Bank. Earlier in the day, he was detained under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a lengthy interrogation at the central agency's Mumbai-based office.

This money laundering case against Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal and some former officials of the company is related to the alleged fraud of Rs 538 crore with Canara Bank. In this case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR against the Goyal couple and others on the complaint of Canara Bank. ED had started investigating the case on the basis of CBI FIR. The CBI has accused Goyal, his wife Anita and some former officials of the company in the bank fraud case.

The bank had complained to the CBI that it had given a loan of Rs 848.86 crore to Jet Airways Limited (JAL), of which Rs 538.62 crore is still outstanding. This account was declared fraud on July 29, 2021.

The bank alleged that the forensic audit of the company revealed that Goyal paid Rs 1,410.41 crore as commission to his other companies and remitted the money to Jet. Payments were also made to affiliates through loans and other investments.

The CBI alleges that the personal expenses of the Goyal family's employees, such as salaries, phone bills and vehicle expenses, were paid by the company. Further, forensic audit revealed that funds were siphoned off through advance payments and investments through Jet Light (India) Limited (JLL) and were later written off by making provisions. According to the CBI, JIL used the money in the form of loans and investments for its subsidiary JLL.

Let me tell you, in July, the ED had raided the premises of former Jet Airways promoter Naresh Goyal and his associates. During this, Indian and foreign currency has been seized. The ED had said in a statement that it has also seized bank deposits of over Rs one crore. The ED had registered a criminal case against Goyal and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2020 after taking cognizance of a Mumbai Police FIR.

Naresh Goyal, along with his wife Anita, founded the Jet Airways airline in the early 1990s and made it the country's second largest airline. But the mounting debt burden caught his flight. 8,000 crores of debt owed to some foreign banks including Canara Bank, Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Allahabad Bank on the company and Jet Airways was grounded on 17 April 2019 due to non-payment of lease rent.