India agency searches Jet Airways' premises in $66 mln fraud case - source

Jet Airways (India)

05/05/2023 14:12

BENGALURU, May 5 (Reuters) - India's federal
investigating agency is searching the premises of Jet Airways
 JET.NS  and the residence of founder Naresh Goyal in Mumbai as
part of a probe into a 5.39 billion rupee ($66 million) bank
fraud case, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) source said
on Friday.
    The searches came days after Canara Bank  CNBK.NS  filed a
complaint against the airline, Goyal, his wife and a former
airline director for "causing wrongful loss" to the lender,
according to a May 3 first information report seen by Reuters.
    Jet Airways did not immediately respond to a Reuters request
for comment. Goyal could not be immediately reached. 
    Canara Bank alleged that funds were diverted for purposes
unrelated to the airline's operations.
    Once India's biggest private airline, Jet ran out of cash in
April 2019 and filed for bankruptcy. It was supposed to resume
operations by the first quarter of 2022 under its new owners.
However, it is deadlocked with creditors over the resolution
plan to lift the airline out of bankruptcy.

($1 = 81.7570 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Chris Thomas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Anil D'Silva)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9830427878;))