NEW DELHI :
THE Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it
has attached in London, Dubai and India assets worth
Rs 538 crore of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, his
family members and companies as part of a money
laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank
loan fraud. The attached properties include 17 residential flats, bungalows and commercial premises.
Located in London, Dubai and various cities in India,
these properties are in the name of various companies like Jetair Private Limited and Jet Enterprises Private
Limited, Goyal, his wife Anita, and son Nivaan, the
federal agency said in a statement. The total value of
these assets is Rs 538.05 crore, the ED said Goyal, 74, was arrested by the ED on
September 1 and the agency filed a
charge sheet against him on Tuesday
before a special Prevention of Money
Laundering Act (PMLA) court in
Mumbai.
He is in judicial custody and lodged
in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail.
Jet Airways,afull-service carrier,shut
its operations in April 2019 after running out of cash. Later, Goyal stepped
down as the chairperson ofthe airline.
The money laundering case against
Goyal stems from a Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) FIR that was registered on the basis of a complaint by
Canara Bank, Mumbai.
According to the bank’s complaint,
JIL, its promoters and directors committed offences of cheating, criminal
conspiracy, criminal breach of trust
and criminal misconduct, resulting in
a “massive” NPA (non-performing
asset) of Rs 538.62 crore, the ED said.
“JIL siphoned off the loans from a
consortium of banks led by SBI and PNB,
and 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 per cent subsidiary to acquire Air
Sahara), and subsequently writing off
the loans by making provisions in the
balance sheets,” the agency alleged.
GSA commissions were “wrongfully” paid to Jet Air Private Limited (GSA
of JIL for India) and Jet Airways LLC
Dubai (Global GSA of JIL). JIL also
“wrongfully” paid for the operational
expenses of these GSAs, it said.
All these GSAs were “beneficially
owned” by Goyal, the ED said.