Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal's house raided in alleged money laundering case

New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday raided Naresh Goyal's Mumbai residence in alleged money laundering probe initiated by the investigating agency.

The central agency, taking cognisance of a FIR filed by a travel company that has accused Mr Goyal and his wife, Anita Goyal, of cheating it of Rs 46 crore, has registered a ECIR against the Goyals and Jet Airways.

The agency is also investigating the alleged foreign exchange violations by Naresh Goyal and Jet Airways under a section of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In September last year Mr Goyal was questioned by Enforcement Directorate officials for over eight hours after a preliminary inquiry, launched in early 2019, alleged provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) were violated after Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways invested $150 million for a stake in Jet, a loyalty and rewards management company formed in 2012 as a subsidiary.

The prime focus of that investigation was to find Naresh Goyal's role in that deal.

It is important to note that FEMA offences are not criminal in nature, unlike those under PMLA.

Earlier in August, the ED had raided around 12 properties of Naresh Goyal in Delhi and Mumbai.

Under a huge debt of Rs 8000 crores, the Jet Airways had officially ended operations indefinitely earlier this year, leaving many employees jobless.