Guwahati: The Central Bureau of Investigation has charged ABG Shipyard Limited, one of India’s major private sector shipyards, with bank fraud. The CBI charged ABG Shipyard, its then-chairman and managing director Rishi Agarwal, and others with cheating 28 banks of Rs 22,842 crore on Saturday.
According to reports, apart from Agarwal the agency has also named the former executive director Santhanam Muthaswamy, directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal, and Ravi Vimal Nevetia, as well as another company ABG International Pvt Ltd for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, and abuse of official position under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The main enterprise of the ABG Group, which specialises in shipbuilding and ship repair, is ABG Shipyard Ltd. Gujarat’s shipyards are located in Dahej and Surat.
The CBI will investigate one of the largest bank fraud cases (larger than the Punjab National Bank scam involving Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi).
In the FIR filed on complaint of State Bank of India (SBI), the forensic audit report revealed that from April 2012 to July 2017, the accused colluded with each other and committed illegal activities such as diversion of funds, misappropriation, and criminal breach of trust for purposes other than those for which the funds were released by the bank.
According to a case filed by the State Bank of India, the company owes the bank Rs 2,925 crore, ICICI Bank Rs 7,089 crore, IDBI Bank Rs 3,634 crore, Bank of Baroda Rs 1,614 crore, PNB Rs 1,244 crore, and IOB Rs 1,228 crore.
According to the CBI, funds were used for reasons other than those for which they were provided by banks.
The company received loans from 28 banks and financial institutions, with the SBI having a Rs 2468.51 crore exposure, the investigation the agency said.
State Bank of India had first filed a complaint on November 8, 2019 on which the CBI had sought some clarifications on March 12, 2020. Further, the bank filed a fresh complaint in August that year. After “scrutinising” for over one and a half-year, the CBI acted on the complaint filing an FIR on February 7, 2022.
Rishi Agarwal, who has been a prominent figure in the Indian shipbuilding sector, is the group’s promoter. ABG Shipyard Limited (ABGSL) has the capacity to build boats with a dead weight tonnage (DWT) of up to 18,000 at Surat Shipyard and 1,20,000 at Dahej Shipyard.
It may be mentioned in the last 16 years, ABGSL has built over 165 vessels for leading companies in India and abroad, including specialised vessels such as newsprint carriers, self-discharging and loading bulk cement carriers, floating cranes, interceptor boats, dynamic positioning diving support vessels, pusher tugs, and flotilla.