Mumbai Police arrest Cox & Kings owner's close aide in Rs 400-crore bank fraud case

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In Mumbai, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the police has detained a key colleague of the owner of Cox & Kings, a tour and travel company, in connection with a Rs 400 crore fraud case against Yes Bank. Ajit Menon (67), a British citizen, was arrested by Mumbai Police at Cochin airport in Kerala after arriving from London on Tuesday. A Lookout Circular had been issued against him, reported PTI.

Menon was brought to Mumbai on Thursday and presented in court, where he was detained in police custody until April 15. He is reported to be a close associate of Cox and Kings' owner, Ajay Peter Kerkar, the news agency report further added.

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According to the report, the Economic Offences Wing's investigation into the Rs 400 crore Yes Bank fraud uncovered that the funds received through a bank loan were redirected for other uses. Menon, who was in charge of the company's European operations, is accused of diverting Rs 56 crore from the loan to a UK-based company.

In 2021, the EOW sued Cox & Kings Financial Services Limited, a subsidiary of Cox & Kings, for defrauding Yes Bank with Rs 400 crore. The financial services division was involved in foreign exchange, vacation financing, student loans, and other non-banking financial services, the report added.

The FIR implicated the company's owner, Kerkar, his wife, Menon, and several others.

Earlier this year, the Bombay High Court refused to grant bail to Ajay Kerkar, who is the promoter of Cox and Kings, in connection with a money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. The single bench of Justice Prithviraj Chavan, in its order, rejecting Kerkar's plea noted that the right

A single bench of Justice Prithviraj Chavan in its order of January 10 rejected Kerkar's bail plea noting that the right to be released on bail after being detained for more than half the minimum length of incarceration was not an absolute right.

Reportedly, Kerkar had filed the bail petition under Section 436 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure which states that no person shall be detained for more than half of the maximum period of imprisonment he or she faces. He had said that he had been incarcerated for two years and 340 days, which is almost three years, the minimum sentence he can be awarded under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

According to the report, he also stated in his plea that he had not been framed in the case and thus was entitled to bail on the ground of inordinate delay in the commencement of the trial.