A SPECIAL PMLA court here on Saturday remanded Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody till September 11 in an alleged case of fraud of Rs 538 crore, registered on a complaint filed by Canara Bank. Goyal (74) was arrested by the Central agency on Friday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following a long session of questioning at its office here. He was produced before the court on Saturday.

 

The money laundering case stems from a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former executives of his defunct airline. The FIR was registered on the bank’s complaint alleging that it sanctioned credit limits and loans to Jet Airways (India) Ltd to the tune of Rs 848.86 crore, of which Rs 538.62 crore is outstanding. JIL diverted funds to its subsidiaries, it alleged. The ED has contended that Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal -- who was arrested late on Friday -- had allegedly diverted around Rs 9.50 crore from a public sector bank loan to clear off his private loans. Goyal used funds to buy furniture, jewellery, for personal enrichment: ED tells court: THE money borrowed by Jet Airways was misused by its founder Naresh Goyal for “personal gains and enrichment”, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday told a court here while seeking his custody in a case, registered on a complaint filed by Canara Bank.

 

Seeking his remand, the ED claimed that the loans taken by now-defunct Jet Airways (India) Limited (JIL) from Canara Bank were used for purchasing things such as furniture, apparel and jewellery besides other illegitimate purposes. JIL’s funds were also used to pay the salaries of his residential staff and meet operational expenses of a production company owned his daughter, the ED said. As per the probe agency, a consortium of banks including the public sector major State Bank of India has overall outstanding exposure of Rs 6,000 crore to JIL.