On the basis of a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court has issued a process against representatives of GVK Airport Developers Ltd., Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and its managing director GV Sanjay Reddy, as well as 18 others. They have been summoned to appear in court on 22 September. In May, the ED submitted a charge sheet against all 21 defendants.
In a detailed decision, Special PMLA judge MG Deshpande stated, "MIAL had allegedly entered into a bogus contract worth 310 crore with nine firms/companies during 2017-2018, but no work was executed against the same."
According to the ED charge sheet, MIAL had an overdraft facility (OD) against surplus funds totalling 395 crore, which is diverted to another group of companies after sharing revenue with the Airport Authority of India (AAl) and deducting expenses held as fixed deposit receipts (FDR) with public sector undertaking (PSU) banks.
MIAL also allegedly exaggerated expenditures by deducting GVK workers' salaries from its income, as well as renting out premium retail locations in Mumbai airport to GVK family members, relatives, and staff at extremely low prices, hence cutting revenues. According to the court, a total of 705 crore was fraudulently syphoned off from MIAL, resulting in a loss to AAI and a commensurate wrongful gain to GVK Airports Holding Ltd.
The court stated that because these allegations are supported by documentary evidence, it believes that a prima facie case of money laundering, as defined in section 3 and punishable under section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, has been established and that there are sufficient grounds to issue process. The complaint was filed by the ED through special prosecutor Kalpana Patil.
In 2006, AAI, which handled the city airport, signed an arrangement with MIAL to operate, manage, and expand Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (T-2). As a result, MIAL agreed to share 38.7% of earnings with AAI and maintain the rest for airport modernization and expansion.
In November 2020, the ED has already attached a land piece held by GVK in Tamil Nadu. The land, worth Rs. 509 crore, was obtained through criminal proceedings, according to the agency.
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