Lalit Goyal of IERO arrested by the ED for money laundering

Officials claimed on Tuesday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Lalit Goyal, vice chairman and managing director of real estate firm IREO, in connection with a money laundering investigation.

The businessman has been taken into custody by the federal inquiry agency in Chandigarh under the terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and would be brought before a local court to request his remand, they added.

On the basis of an ED lookout circular against him, Goyal was detained by immigration officials at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here last Thursday.

He was going to fly to the United States.

Goyal was held by the agency after being questioned at the airport, and he was then questioned in Chandigarh.

He was arrested, according to officials, because he was "evasive" in his responses to the investigators' questioning.

The businessman, whose sister is married to BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal, is being investigated in connection with a money laundering case involving the alleged diversion of around USD 77 million in property purchasers' cash, investments, and shareholdings to various offshore firms.

Goyal's name was also mentioned in the global leak of offshore funds known as the 'Pandora Papers.'

The businessman and his legal team had previously denied any wrongdoing on their side, claiming that no cash had been moved abroad in contravention of the law.