New Delhi: In what is pegged as the largest bank fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked ABG Shipyard Ltd, along with its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal and others. The alleged parties are said to have defrauded the State Bank of India (SBI), and 27 other banks and lenders of more than Rs 22,842 crore. CBI has also booked several others in relation to the ABG Shipyard fraud case.
Who owns ABG Shipyard?
ABG Shipyard Ltd is owned by the ABG Group, a firm engaged in the business of shipbuilding and ship repair. The shipbuilding company is based in Mumbai. The company is promoted by Rishi Agarwal. The company’s shipyards are located at Dahej and Surat in Gujarat. ABG Shipyard has constructed more than 165 vessels in the 16 years.
Timeline of ABG Shipyard Fraud Case
- ABG Shipyard’s loan account was first declared as a non-performing asset (NPA) in July 2016.
- SBI filed its first complaint on November 8, 2019. The loan account was declared fraud in 2019.
- CBI sought some clarifications on SBI’s complaint on March 12, 2020.
- SBI filed a fresh complaint in August 2020.
- CBI acted on SBI’s complaint after "scrutinising" for over one and a half years on the complaint’s FIR on February 7, 2022.
ABG Shipyard Fraud Case: Whose names are in CBI’s list?
Besides Agarwal, CBI has named the then executive director Santhanam Muthaswamy, directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal and Ravi Vimal Nevetia and another company ABG International Pvt Ltd.
The agency has booked them for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and abuse of official position under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.
In its official statement, CBI said that it conducted searches at 13 locations on Saturday, February 12, in the premises of the accused including private company’s directors at Surat, Bharuch, Mumbai, Pune etc. The raiders led to the recovery of incriminating documents, the agency added. Also Read:
CBI also noted that funds were used for purposes other than for which they were released by banks, according to a report by PTI. The agency also pointed out that the Forensic Audit by Ernst and Young noted that the accused colluded together and committed illegal activities such as funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust between 2012-17. Also Read:
- With inputs from PTI.
