BENGALURU: Naresh Goyal, the founder of grounded airline Jet Airways, was arrested on Friday in a Rs 538 crore Canara Bank fraud case. He was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before the arrest was made. There has been multiple raids by the ED and the CBI at the residence and offices of Goyal in the last few months. Goyal has been taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The case is said to be based on a first information report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in May this year. CBI officials conducted searches at seven locations in Mumbai, including Goyal’s residence and offices, in May.
According to sources, Goyal was asked to appear before the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) for questioning on Friday. However, ED officials showed up and questioned him for hours before the arrest. The complaint against Goyal is lodged by P Santosh, Chief General Manager of Canara Bank. The complaint also mentions Anita Naresh Goyal, Gaurang Ananda Shetty and a few other people for causing loss to the public sector bank.
Owning to a shortage of funds and huge losses, Jet Airways stopped flying in April 2019 after being operational for around 25 years. When the airline went deep into a financial crisis, central agencies started probing into the financials of the airline and its founder Naresh Goyal.