ED attaches assets worth Rs 538 crore of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal family in PMLA case

ED has provisionally attached properties worth Rs 538.05 Crore under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in the money laundering investigation against M/s Jet Airways (India) Limited (JIL). The attached properties include 17 residential flats/bungalows and commercial premises in the… pic.twitter.com/jJAOTaYG3o

— ED (@dir_ed) November 1, 2023

ED launched a money laundering probe in the matter on the basis of FIR registered by CBI, BS&FB, Delhi on the basis of a written complaint submitted by Canara Bank, Mumbai.

In this complaint, the complainant bank alleged offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct committed by M/s JIL and its promoter and directors which resulted in a massive NPA of Rs 538.62 crore.

ED’s investigation revealed JIL siphoned the loans from consortium of banks led by SBI and PNB.

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 of loans to JetLite Limited (100% subsidiary to acquire Air Sahara), and subsequently writing off the loans by making provisions in the balance sheets, ED stated.

ED investigation 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 wrongfully paid for the operational expenses of these GSAs.

All these GSAs were beneficially owned by Naresh Goyal. Hence, the management of JIL toed the line of Naresh Goyal, and kept on paying large sums of money on regular basis despite the fact that these entities were not performing any substantial service after 2009. The funds so received were again used by Naresh Goyal and his family for their personal expenses and investments, the central agency stated in a statement.

While probing the matter, ED previously conducted searches and survey at the premises linked to Naresh Goyal, Chartered Accountants of JIL and others.

Goyal was arrested on September 1 and is currently in judicial custody. The anti-money laundering agency filed a prosecution complaint before the Special Court (PMLA) on Tuesday.