CBI books former ABG Shipyard Ltd chief for cheating banks of over ₹22,000 crore

In its biggest bank fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked ABG Shipyard Ltd and its then Chairman and Managing Director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India of over ₹22,842 crore.

Besides Agarwal, the agency has also named the then Executive Director Santhanam Muthaswamy, Directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal and Ravi Vimal Nevetia and another company ABG International Pvt Ltd 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.

The bank had first filed a complaint on November 8, 2019, on which the CBI had sought some clarifications on March 12, 2020.

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.

The company was sanctioned credit facilities from 28 banks and financial institutions with the SBI having exposure of ₹2468.51 crore, they said.

The Forensic Audit has shown that between 2012 and 2017, the accused colluded and committed illegal activities including diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust, they said.

It is the biggest bank fraud case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Funds were used for purposes other than for which they were released by banks, it said.