Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal remanded to ED custody till Sept 11 over Rs 538 crore fraud case

A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai has extended the Enforcement Directorate’s custody of former Jet Airways promoter Naresh Goyal until September 11. Goyal was arrested on Friday in connection to the allegations of defrauding Canara Bank of Rs 538 crore. ED had sought 14 days of custody of Goyal. The money laundering case stems from an FIR of 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 case at the Canara Bank. The FIR was registered on the bank’s complaint which alleged that it sanctioned credit limits and loans to Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL) to the tune of Rs 848.86 crore of which Rs 538.62 crore is outstanding. The CBI had said the account was declared “fraud” on July 29, 2021. The bank alleged that the forensic audit of JIL showed that it paid “related companies” Rs 1,410.41 crore out of 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) were to be borne by GSA itself and not 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 now part of the CBI FIR alleged. It said personal expenses such as salaries of staff, phone bills and vehicle expenses among others of the Goyal family were paid by JIL. Among other allegations, it surfaced during the forensic audit that funds were also siphoned off through Jet Lite (India) Ltd (JLL) by way of making advance and investing and subsequently writing off of the same by making provisions. JIL diverted the funds for the subsidiary JLL in the form of loan advances and investments extended. With inputs from agencies.