The Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has confirmed it has launched a probe into the alleged syphoning off of funds at Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International), Moneycontrol has reported.

The authorities reportedly identified irregularities and potential instances of money syphoning in the carrier's financial reports. No further details were given. The case was launched after whistleblower Arvind Gupta alerted officials about the potential financial wrongdoings.

The debt-ridden airline has since acknowledged that it has received questions from the office of Registrar of Companies (ROC) and is now preparing its responses.

The Indian media reported earlier in August that the MCA had launched a preliminary probe into the airline. At that time, Jet Airways denied knowledge of such any such investigation.

Jet Airways lost INR13.3 billion (USD190 million) net in the second quarter of 2018 and had a total debt of INR81.5 billion rupees (USD1.2 billion) as of March 31, 2018. In response to the crisis, Jet Airways launched a INR20 billion rupee (USD285 million) cost-cutting drive and secured additional USD300 million in the form of advance lease incentives and loans from Indian banks.