SME Times News Bureau | 16 Jan, 2020
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has summoned
AirAsia's top management including its Malayasia-based CEO Tony
Fernandes for questioning on January 20.
A source in the ED said
that they have summoned the top brass for questioning under the sections
of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
According to ED sources,
the central financial probe agency, beside Fernandes, has also summoned
Tharumalingam Kanagalingam a.k.a. Bo Lingam (Group President) AirAsia
Airlines, senior group executive S. Ramadorai, former AirAsia CEOs
Naresh Algan and Mittu Chandiliya and businessman Arun Bhatia, who was
earlier holding substantial equity in AirAsia.
The source said
there are allegations that the senior officials of AirAsia entered into a
criminal conspiracy with the UPA government to tweak rules for getting
overseas flying rights.
He said the ED is probing certain
transactions which were made to a Singapore firm, which allegedly did
not provide any services.
He said the agency is also probing a transaction with an alleged ghost firm in India which did not have any government filings.
The
ED had registered the case of money laundering against AirAsia
officials and others for allegedly trying to manipulate government
policies through corrupt means to get international licenses for its
Indian venture AirAsia India Limited in mid 2018.
The central
financial probe agency filed the case to probe if alleged tainted funds
were used to create illegal assets and it has taken cognisance of the
CBI's FIR to lodge its own case.
The CBI had named Fernandes and
others in the case of violating FDI norms in giving effective management
to a foreign entity through FIPB clearance in 2013.
The CBI's
FIR had earlier alleged that transaction with Singapore based HNR
trading was a Sham Transaction and the money was used to pay alleged
bribes to senior government officials.