BackEnforcement Directorate files fresh money laundering case against Jet Airways and Naresh Goyal
Naresh Goyal was questioned by the agency till late evening and then he was taken to his house for searches, said the official quoted earlierThis comes after the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had ordered a fraud probe against the airline in July last year
PremiumMUMBAI : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed a fresh case against the grounded airline Jet Airways Ltd and its former Chairman Naresh Goyal, said an ED official.
The case is under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) which is a criminal charge. The previous case was under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) a lenient charge as compared to charges of alleged money laundering.
Goyal was questioned by the agency till late evening and then he was taken to his house for searches, said the official quoted earlier.
This comes after the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had ordered a fraud probe against the airline in July last year.
According to MCA, Jet Airways was prima facie indulging into malpractices, mismanagement through siphoning/ writing-off/ diversion of funds and other financial irregularities, including but not limited to preferential/ related party transactions prejudicial to the public interest.
This comes even as the lenders of Jet Airways are trying to recover their dues. The airline’s total liability, including unpaid salaries and vendor dues, is nearly ₹15,000 crore. Jet Airways was grounded on 17 April 2019 due to severe cash crunch and for not servicing its debt obligations.
The lenders to Jet led by State Bank of India (SBI) tried to resolve the insolvency at Jet Airways through bidding process. However the efforts failed on 17 June when the bankers started bankruptcy proceedings against the grounded airline and referred the airline to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Recently, lenders of Jet Airways, extended the deadline for submission of bids for the airline to 9 March. The 270-day deadline for completing the insolvency process ends on 15 March. Subsequently, it may be referred for liquidation, unless the NCLT agrees to give an extension.
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