This article is adapted from the business magazine Capital and is available here for ten days. Afterwards it will only be available to read at www.capital.de. Like stern, Capital belongs to RTL Deutschland.
Ajit Menon, the CEO of the German hotel chain Meininger Hotels, was reportedly arrested at the airport on April 9 after a flight from London to Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala. This was reported by various Indian media such as the “Hindustan Times”.
The Mumbai Police's Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) arrested Menon in connection with a case of suspected bank fraud. The focus is on the travel company Cox
Menon's interrogation took place on the basis of a so-called Look Out Circular (LOC), a type of wanted letter with which Indian authorities monitor and prevent the entry and exit of people wanted by the police.
An official said Menon was produced before a court in Mumbai, which kept him in police custody until April 15, according to The Economic Times. In Germany, specialist media such as the comparison portal “Tageskarte” first reported on the incident.
As CEO of Meininger, Briton Menon is responsible for 38 hotels in several European countries and one in Israel. When contacted by Capital, a spokeswoman for Meininger Hotels confirmed that Menon was detained by the authorities for questioning during a trip to India. “According to our current information, this arrest is in connection with investigations into past business activities in India,” said the spokeswoman. "Ajit Menon was not involved in these activities," she further said. When asked whose business activities were being investigated, Meininger Hotels did not respond.
The Economic Crimes Department of the Mumbai Police did not immediately comment on the incident when contacted by Capital.
According to Indian media reports, Menon was targeted by the EOW when the agency investigated a suspected bank fraud case by Cox in 2021
According to the Mumbai Police, Menon never officially became Cox's managing director
This will allow Cox
The newspaper "Indian Express" also reports that Menon is in charge of the European business of Cox's group companies
When asked by Capital, Meininger Hotels did not want to answer how CEO Menon and Kerkar are connected to each other. The hotel chain's spokeswoman simply emphasized that the matter was in no way related to Menon's current role at Meininger Hotels: "We are in contact with the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai to support Ajit Menon with any legal action that may arise." The management team at Meininger Hotels is taking over ongoing activities and ensuring that all services “continue to be available without interruptions”. The Meininger headquarters acts as a service provider for the hotels and controls all administrative tasks and processes, for example sales, marketing and human resources management.
The incident with Menon appears to be in the context of a wide-ranging investigation into Cox, who is already in custody
In the case of sister company Cox
The "Hindustan Times" refers to the criminal complaint: The accused pretended that the financial situation of the company was in order through false and forged purchase and sale transactions that were recorded in the company's books in 2018 and 2019. “The company presented its false or falsified balance sheets in order to justify a high credit rating,” is an accusation from Yes Bank.
The hotel chain Meininger and the tour operator Cox
Since then, Menon has taken on important positions in the corporate network. In 2011 he became strategy director at Holidaybreak and in May 2013 deputy CEO of the tourism group. In September 2019, Menon became CEO and assumed strategic leadership of Holidaybreak and its subsidiaries. In June 2020 he was also appointed CEO of Meininger Hotels.
