ED attaches assets worth Rs 538 cr of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, others in London, Dubai
New Delhi, Nov 1: 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, a full-service carrier, shut its operations in April 2019 after running out of cash. Later, Goyal stepped down as the chairperson of the 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.
Hence, it added, that the JIL management toed the line of Goyal and kept on paying large sums of money on a regular basis despite the fact that these entities were not performing any substantial service after 2009.
The funds so received were again used by Goyal and his family for their personal expenses and investments, the ED said.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
