Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, who was arrested late on Friday night by the Enforcement Directorate, has been found to have booked dubious personal expenses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore in the name of the company. According to ED investigations, Goyal and his family members siphoned off bank funds to foreign accounts through unaccounted transactions.
According to the ED, Jet Airways has also diverted funds to overseas entities based in Dubai, Ireland and other tax havens including the British Virgin Islands in the garb of General Selling Agents commission, which was paid to related parties and entities connected to Goyal and his associates.
The ED had conducted searches on July 19 at multiple locations, including chartered accountants and consultants to whom large payments had been made by Jet Airways over the years and which were red-flagged in the forensic audit reports filed by EY. In a press statement, the enforcement directorate said it has collected a large amount of incriminating documents.
The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR filed by the CBI against Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal and others for causing Rs 538 crore loss to Canara Bank. The FIR accused Goyal and others of cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct.
Goyal was summoned on two occasions, but failed to appear before the ED.