'I'm Sad For Naresh': Vijay Mallya Condoles Death Of Anita Goyal, Wife of Jet Airways Founder

Anita Goyal, wife of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, passed away in the wee hours of Thursday, according to a close family source. She was reportedly suffering from cancer and was in the third stage of her condition, undergoing treatment. However, Anita’s health had started declining over the past few months. After a long battle with the deadly disease, Anita Goyal died in a Mumbai hospital on Thursday at 3 am. Her mortal remains would be brought back to her home.

As the demise has led to a wave of grief across the Goyal family, Vijay Mallya, once the ‘King of Good Times’ and airline tycoon, has sent his condolences to Naresh Goyal. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Mallya wrote, “My heartfelt condolences to the Goyal family on the sad passing of Anita. She was a formidable competitor at Jet but a lovely human being.”

In addition to this, the fugitive businessman also made a veiled mention of Naresh Goyal’s legal battles, stating that he has given a lot to create Jet Airways, which he believes is a “worthy and long-standing competitor to KFA.”

To conclude, Mallya, while noting that both Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are “sadly no more”, hopes the world will eventually know the truth.

Naresh Goyal In Money Laundering Case

Vijay Mallya’s cryptic remarks come in the wake of the ongoing investigation against Jet Airways. The Enforcement Directorate has accused the airline of borrowing money from around 10 banks while still owing Rs 6,000 crore to these banks. The ED revealed that Rs 1,152 crore was diverted under the guise of consultancy and professional fees, while another Rs 2,547.83 crore was diverted to Jet Lite Limited. Owing to the allegations of money laundering and misappropriation of loans, Naresh Goyal was arrested in September 2023.

On the other hand, the late Anita Goyal was intricately connected with the operations of the carrier and also served as the executive vice president.

It was recently that the 75-year-old businessman was granted a two-month interim bail by the Bombay High Grounds on medical grounds. Goyal, who is himself a cancer patient, is also undergoing chemotherapy and wanted to stay by his wife’s side during her treatment, his lawyer appealed.

Speaking about Vijay Mallya, he was declared a fugitive in 2019 under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, four years after he fled to the UK. Mallya is accused in a loan scam case and money laundering, owing an estimate of Rs 9,000 crore, that was loaned to now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.