ED files chargesheet against Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal in Canara Bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) charged Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and five others on Tuesday in the alleged Rs.538 crore Canara Bank fraud.

ED arrested Goyal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on September 1st. He is currently in judicial custody and is being held at the Arthur Road jail in this city.

According to a lawyer involved in the matter, the chargesheet against Goyal and others was submitted before a court here, which is expected to take cognizance of it on Wednesday.

The money laundering case arises from the Central Bureau of Investigation‘s (CBI) first information report (FIR) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita, and several former business executives of the now-defunct private airline in connection with the alleged fraud case.

The FIR was filed in response to the bank‘s complaint, which claimed that it sanctioned credit limits and loans totaling Rs.848.86 crore to Jet Airways (India) Ltd, of which Rs.538.62 crore was unpaid.

The investigation agency had previously stated during his remand hearing that the Jet Airways founder syphoned off money from India to abroad by establishing several trusts in foreign nations. The inquiry discovered that the accused established several trusts abroad and used those trusts to buy numerous immovable assets.

The funds for those trusts are nothing more than the proceeds of crime (POC) syphoned off from India to abroad, according to the report.

According to the ED, their inquiry also revealed that Goyal purchased high-value properties in Mumbai and then sold them. He also established a network of corporations in India through which he purchased a large number of immovable assets.

The ED claims, citing an audit report, that the loans obtained by Jet Airways (India) Limited (JIL) were used to purchase immovable assets such as furniture, clothes, and jewellery.

Salaries for Goyals’ house staff and operational expenditures for his daughter’s production company were also paid from JIL’s finances.