The law enforcement agency late Friday evening arrested Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in a money laundering case related to an alleged Rs 538-crore bank fraud at Canara Bank, official sources said.
He was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a long interrogation session at the central agency’s office here.
According to the sources, 74-year-old Goyal will be produced before a special PMLA court in Mumbai on Saturday where the ED will seek his remand.
Jet Airways, a full-service carrier, had suspended operations in April 2019 after running out of money. Later, Goyal resigned as chairman of the airline.
The money laundering case stems from an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former executives of the company in connection with the alleged Rs 538-crore Canara Bank fraud case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted raids against Goyal and others involved in the case in July.
The CBI FIR was registered on the bank’s complaint alleging that it had approved credit limits and loans to Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL) amounting to Rs 848.86 crore, of which Rs 538.62 crore was outstanding .
The CBI had said the account was classified as a “fraud” on July 29, 2021.
The bank claimed that JIL’s forensic audit revealed that it had paid “affiliates” to the tune of ₹1,410.41 crore out of the total commission cost, thereby siphoning off funds from JIL.
“As per the model agreement of Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL), it has been stated that the cost of General Selling Agents (GSA) should be borne by the GSA itself and not by JIL. However, JIL was found to have paid various expenses amounting to Rs 403.27 crore, which is not in accordance with the GSA,” said the complaint, which is now part of the CBI FIR.
It said that personal expenses such as staff salaries, telephone bills and vehicle expenses, among others, of the Goyal family were borne by JIL.
Among other things, the forensic audit revealed that funds were also siphoned off through Jet Lite (India) Ltd (JLL) by making and investing advances and then writing them off through provisions.
JIL redirected the funds for the subsidiary JLL in the form of loans and advances and granted investments.
In February, another money laundering case against Goyal, related to alleged fraud and forgery, filed by Mumbai-based Akbar Travels, was quashed by the Bombay High Court after the Maharashtra Police filed a final report saying it said that the complaint and the dispute had no substance and appeared to be civil in nature.
Since this ED case was based on the police FIR and was the predicate offense for filing a money laundering case, it was quashed by the Supreme Court.
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan quashed the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report or the ED equivalent of an FIR) registered on February 20, 2020 and all cases against Goyals on the ground that they were “unlawful and against “to break the law.