The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth Rs 538.05 crore of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and his family in a money laundering case, the agency said on Wednesday.
The attached properties included 17 residential flats and bungalows and commercial premises of Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal and son Nivaan Goyal in London, Dubai and various states of India, the agency said in a statement.
The ED action came a day after it filed a chargesheet against Goyal and five others in a Mumbai court on Tuesday.
Goyal, who was arrested on September 1 Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is currently in judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.
The ED registered the case based on a first information report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former company executives of the now-grounded private airline.
The CBI’s FIR was based on a complaint filed by the Canara Bank.
In its complaint, the bank had alleged that it had 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.
The ED investigation revealed that the Jet Airways Limited siphoned off the loans from a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank.
“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% subsidiary to acquire Air Sahara), and subsequently writing off the loans by making provisions in the balance sheets,” the agency said.
The ED investigation further established that 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 wrongfully paid for the operational expenses of these GSAs which were beneficially owned by Goyal, it said.
“Hence, the management of JIL toed the line of Naresh Goyal, and kept on paying large sums of money on regular basis despite the fact that these entities were not performing any substantial service after 2009. The funds so received were again used by Naresh Goyal and his family for their personal expenses and investments,” the agency said.