ED grills ex-Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal, asks him to appear on Friday

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked Naresh Goyal, former chairman of now-defunct Jet Airways, to appear before it again on Friday for further questioning in connection with a money laundering probe registered against him on Tuesday.

This will be the third consecutive day of questioning. On Wednesday, he was summoned to ED Mumbai’s office, where he was interrogated for four hours and taken to his residence later in the evening. On Thursday, too, he was grilled for a few hours.

Sources in ED said the probe indicated that funds were siphoned off through entities created abroad and the money was diverted to the personal accounts of Goyal and his family.

The agency has also detained Goyal’s fund manager as he was allegedly in charge of the former’s personal finances.

ED, which had conducted extensive search operations at Goyal’s residences on Wednesday, seized several digital documents and records pertaining to alleged fictitious transactions, an official said.

ED’s case is based on the first information report filed by the Mumbai police, which is necessary to probe “predicate offence” under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Sources said that the probe agency could also write to lenders who did not get back their money, like State Bank of India, and nudge them to file a complaint.

Jet and Goyal have been under the agency’s lens for alleged violation of foreign exchange regulations during the signing of a $150-million deal with strategic partner Etihad Airways in 2014 for a loyalty programme.

During the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) probe, the agency had alleged that Goyal’s companies executed several “colourable transactions” under the guise of selling and distribution expenses.

“Commission and other fictitious expenses were booked at unrealistically high prices and, therefore, they were projecting huge losses,” ED had said last year.

Further, Jet Airways had executed allegedly suspicious aircraft lease transactions with ghost entities located abroad, made payments towards lease rentals, and in exchange diverted the monies to Goyal, ED had said.

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, wife stopped from flying abroad

Immigration officials at Mumbai airport called back a taxiing Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft to stop Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and his wife, Anita, from leaving the country.

Goyal and his wife, who are non-resident Indians, were travelling to Dubai on an Emirates flight to attend business meetings, a source said. They were deboarded and informed they could not leave the country.

Later, they were allowed to go home and their passports handed over to them after the completion of formalities. According to sources, the couple was stopped on the basis of a look-out circular against Naresh Goyal.

The aircraft eventually took off around 5 pm after a 90-minute delay. In a statement, Emirates said: "Emirates is co-operating fully with the relevant authorities and we abide by the laws of the various countries we operate in."

Goyal founded Jet Airways in 1993 and was its chairman till he was asked to step down by lenders in March. 

ALSO READ: Naresh Goyal quits Jet: How aviation legend reached end of the road

Jet, which has a debt of over Rs 8,000 crore, shut operations last month, after running short of cash. Banks denied fresh loans as well. Goyal's resignation has come under much criticism and unpaid employees have questioned why banks asked their chairman to step down and not release any funds.

The airline's grounding has left 14,000 employees without pay. The CEO and other senior executives have quit.

A staff union, led by Nationalist Congress Party MLC Kiran Pawaskar, had filed a police complaint seeking restrictions on Goyal and the senior management from leaving India.

Jet is also facing multiple probes by the income-tax department and the corporate affairs ministry for tax evasion and other non-compliance issues. The Enforcement Directorate is also probing the majority sale of its loyalty programme to Etihad Airways.

The development comes as lenders continue to search for an investor. Over half its planes have been repossessed. Lenders and strategic partner Etihad Airways are in discussions with the Hinduja group for a possible revival.

Naresh Goyal to quit as chairman of debt-ridden Jet today: Report

Jet Airways Ltd Chairman Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal are expected to leave the board of the cash-strapped airline on Monday, ET Now television channel reported.

Chief Executive Vinay Dube is expected to stay on board the 25-year-old airline Goyal set up with his wife in 1993, according to the report.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Goyal had agreed to step down as chairman and reduce his 51 per cent stake in the airline.

The report also said that Jet's lenders may invoke Goyal's entire stake in the airline, and start looking for a new buyer in the coming weeks.

Saddled with more than $1 billion of debt, Jet is struggling to stay afloat. It has delayed payments to banks, suppliers, pilots and lessors - some of which have forced the airline to ground as many as 40 planes.

Jet has survived a near-death experience once before; in 2013, Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways injected $600 million of capital for a 24 per cent stake in the airline, three London Heathrow slots and a majority share in Jet's frequent flyer programme. The infusion helped Jet pare down debt and fight growing domestic competition.

Etihad's stake is likely to be diluted in the near future, the television channel reported.

Jet Airways was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.