The founder of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday following a day-long investigation into allegations that he had laundered a $538 core credit facility obtained from Canara Bank at a time when a consortium was investing to get the grounded planes back in the air.

Abhay Narendra Lodha of the Topworth Group was detained by the ED.
According to ED sources, Goyal would appear before a Mumbai Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday to request his custody. The Central Bureau of inquiry (CBI) had filed a FIR against 74-year-old Goyal, his wife Anita, and Jet Airways director Gaurang Ananda Shetty in response to a complaint received from a Mumbai branch of Canara Bank on November 23, last year. The ED has since taken up the inquiry. The Bank claimed that out of the 848.86 crore credit facility granted to the airlines, 538.62 crore was still owing and had been improperly transferred to group firms and subsidiaries.

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The CBI claimed that the company's account, which included 538.62 crore in Canara Bank borrowings, was deemed fraudulent in July 2021. The CBI searched locations in Mumbai including those of Jet Airways and Naresh Goyal in May.

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Interestingly, the Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JCK) announced earlier in the day that it has deposited Rs. 100 crore in Jet Airways to resurrect the insolvent airline in accordance with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's recommendations. In order to acquire control of Jet Airways, the consortium only needs to deposit the final $100 crore by September 30, 2023, according to the consortium. "With this infusion, JKC has now invested 250 crore in Jet Airways," it said. The JCK's request to extend the deadline and change the 150 crore from the performance bank guarantee to the clear payment of 350 crore was approved by a three-member NCLAT bench.

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the 2nd of September 2023
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