ED files fresh case against Naresh Goyal and others

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Naresh Goyal. The agency has registered a fresh money laundering case against Goyal, his wife Anita and others, sources in the know told ET. These sources added the searches were conducted in Mumbai and Delhi, including those linked to the Goyals and the erstwhile auditor of the airline.

Earlier in February, the division bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan of the Bombay High Court had quashed the ED's money laundering case against the couple for want of a predicate offence. The bench had, however, observed that if any fresh case is registered against the couple by any law enforcement agency, the ED could probe them. According to sources, the fresh money laundering case is based on the recent FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Goyal in which Canara Bank is the complainant.

A predicate offence is a must for the ED to register a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. According to the CBI's FIR, a complaint was submitted by the chief general manager, recovery and legal section, at Canara Bank, Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, alleging criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct by the accused, causing the bank a wrongful loss of ₹538.62 crore. According to the complaint, JIL, promoted by Tail Winds, an overseas company owned by Goyal and his associates, had been dealing with Canara Bank since 2005.

However, since August 2018, the company claimed it was facing liquidity and operational issues. Subsequently, an SBI-led consortium decided to initiate resolution for corporate insolvency. The accounts held with Canara Bank turned non-performing asset in June 2019.