The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has asked the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to begin a probe into Jet Airways on suspicion the promoters siphoned off money.

The investigation follows after the MCA opened a preliminary enquiry into the company and carried out an inspection of Jet’s books.

Moneycontrol was the first publication to report on the beginning of MCA’s probe.

A source in the MCA told Moneycontrol that the ministry found evidence of siphoning off of money from the company.

In particular, it wants to look into several instances where Jet had written off investments in various subsidiary companies without any apparent reason.

The MCA also wants the company’s financials probed – why the company suddenly turned in a loss in fiscal year 2018 after posting a profit for a couple of years. This was despite the company receiving fund infusions in the form of Etihad’s investments twice during the period.

Sources said another reason the Jet case assumes importance and warrants an SFIO probe is the recent turn of events, when the company shut down its operations, leaving the fate of about 20,000 staff hanging in the balance.

The MCA’s Western Regional Director headed the enquiry and inspection into Jet.Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously said the company was under suspicion for siphoning off of funds. This has been changed to the promoters. The error is regretted.

Source : https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/mca-orders-sfio-probe-into-jet-airways-on-suspicion-it-siphoned-off-money-3952131.html