The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 538.05 crore in connection with the money laundering probe against Jet Airways (India) Limited (JIL).
The attached properties include 17 residential flats, bungalows and commercial premises in the name of various companies and persons, including Jetair Private Limited, Jet Enterprises Private Limited, JIL’s founder chairman Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal and son Nivaan Goyal. They are located in London, Dubai and various states in India.
The probe agency had on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Naresh Goyal in its probe against Jet Airways under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He was arrested by the ED on September 1 and he is currently in judicial custody lodged at Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail.
The money laundering probe is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case into an alleged bank fraud where it has been alleged that JIL and its promoter and directors cheated banks, which resulted in a massive NPA (non-performing asset) of Rs 538.62 crore.
According to ED, JIL siphoned off the loans from a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank.
The ED has further claimed that the loan amount given for the operational work of the airline company was used for personal expenses by Naresh Goyal and his family.
“Naresh Goyal implemented a massive financial fraud in which the funds of JIL were systematically diverted in the garb of irrational and inflated General Sales Agent (GSA) commissions, large unexplained payouts to various professionals and consultants, by granting loans to JetLite Limited (100% subsidiary to acquire Air Sahara), and subsequently writing off the loans by making provisions in the balance sheets,” the ED statement read.
The probe established that GSA commissions were wrongfully paid to Jet Air Private Limited (GSA of JIL for India), Jet Airways LLC Dubai (Global GSA of JIL) and JIL for the operational expenses of these GSAs, it said.
Once India’s biggest private airline, Jet ceased operation in April 2019 after it ran out of cash. In 2019, Jet Airways filed for insolvency after Goyal had stepped down as the chairperson of the airline.
