ED files chargesheet against Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, five others in bank fraud case
Mumbai (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and five others in the alleged fraud of Rs 538 crore at the Canara Bank.
Goyal was arrested by the ED on September 1 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He is currently in judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road jail here.
The chargesheet against Goyal and others was filed in a court here, which is likely to take cognisance of it on Wednesday, a lawyer linked to the case said.
The money laundering case stems from the first information report (FIR) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former company executives of the now-grounded private airline in connection with the alleged fraud case.
The FIR was registered on the bank's complaint, which alleged 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 was outstanding.
Earlier, during his remand hearing, the investigation agency had said that the Jet Airways founder siphoned off money from India to abroad by creating various trusts in foreign countries.
The investigation revealed that the accused has created various Trusts abroad and through those trusts he purchased various immovable properties. The money for those trusts is nothing but the proceeds of crime (POC) siphoned off from India to abroad, it had said.
The ED said that their investigation further revealed that Goyal had purchased high value properties inMumbai and subsequently sold the same. He also formed a web of the companies in India through which he has acquired a lot of immovable properties.
Citing an audit report, the ED has claimed that the loans availed by Jet Airways (India) Limited (JIL) were used for purchasing immovable assets such as furniture, apparel and jewellery.
Salaries of Goyals' residential staff and operational expenses of a production company of his daughter were also paid from the accounts of JIL.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
