Late Friday night, Naresh Goyal, the founder of Jet Airways, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case tied to an alleged bank fraud of Rs 538 crore at Canara Bank, according to official sources. Goyal, aged 74, was apprehended under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following an extended interrogation at the central agency’s headquarters. He is set to appear before a special PMLA court in Mumbai on Saturday, where the ED will request his custodial remand.
This money-laundering case has its origins in an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, his spouse Anita, and former company executives. It pertains to an alleged Rs 538-crore fraud at Canara Bank. The bank’s complaint led to the FIR, alleging that it had granted credit limits and loans totaling Rs 848.86 crore to Jet Airways (India) Ltd (JIL), with Rs 538.62 crore still outstanding. The CBI declared the account a “fraud” account on July 29, 2021, and the bank claimed that a forensic audit of JIL revealed it had disbursed Rs 1,410.41 crore to “related companies” as part of commission expenses, effectively diverting funds from JIL.
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