Jet Airways' lenders asked to submit forensic audit findings to government

The government had asked the lenders of the debt-laden Jet Airways to share findings of its forensic audit report of the grounded airline in March this year, around the same time the company's founder, Naresh Goyal, left all executive roles.

State Bank of India-led lenders to Jet Airways had hired Ernst & Young as the new auditor of the troubled airline to carry out forensic audit for the period between April 2014 and March 2018 in December last year.

The forensic audit report, carried out by EY, has not been made public, but its findings created doubts about several transactions carried out by firms related to Goyal, the airline's then chairman, Mint quoted a source as saying.

Also Read: Jet Airways crisis: Naresh Goyal, wife stopped from flying abroad at Mumbai airport

On Saturday, Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal were denied permission to fly abroad by the immigration authorities at Mumbai airport. They were supposed to take a Dubai-bound Emirates flight (EK 507). Though there's no clarity as to why the Goyals were stopped from flying, Naresh Goyal was apparently travelling for a meeting with executives of Gulf carrier Etihad and the Hinduja Group on the airline's revival plan, reported news agency PTI.

The ongoing stake sale talks are Jet Airways' last hope to regain its wings after the airline was grounded in April due to lack of funding. The consortium of lenders, who had hoped to recover dues of over Rs 8,400 crore through the stake sale, seek investors to buy stake in the company so it can restart flight operations.

Last week, Hindujas Group and Gulf carrier Etihad Airways reportedly failed to reach a deal on the crisis-hit airline. This was a big blow for the airline as the Hinduja Group had expressed interest to invest around Rs 1,500 crore as part of a plan to revive the airline.

Also Read: AirAsia drops plan to take Jet Airways' grounded B737 planes

Reacting to the news, Jet Airways share price declined as much as 4.11 per cent and touched an intra-day low of Rs 142 against previous close level of Rs 148.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Paring some of the early losses, the stock was currently trading at Rs 146.20, down 1.28 per cent.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar