The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against the defunct Paramount Airways (India) (Chennai), its founder M Thiagarajan, and three other individuals for allegedly syphoning money out of the airline and providing false information to secure an air transport licence, the Economic Times has reported.
The accused allegedly syphoned out INR196.8 million rupees (USD2.9 million) from the airline between April 2008 and October 2009, using five shell companies registered abroad. The fronts were registered as leasing companies and the money was syphoned out under the pretence of lease payments, the chargesheet alleges.
In addition, the accused have also reportedly exported aircraft parts worth INR120.8 million despite earlier pledging them as collaterals on loans from State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of India, and IDBI.
The chargesheet is a document filed by the investigators to the court, which then decides whether the presented evidence substantiates the commencement of a trial.
Paramount Airlines was founded in 2005 and went bankrupt in 2010. The carrier, which focused on regional services in south-eastern India operated with E170 regional jets, tried to restart in 2012 but this has never happened.
