CBI books ABG Shipyard in Rs 22,842 crore bank fraud

New Delhi, February 12

The CBI today booked ABG Shipyard Ltd and its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India of over Rs 22,842 crore, in what is the biggest bank fraud case ever.

Rs22,842 cr worth of funds allegedly misused by ABG Shipyard Ltd; loans from 28 banks & financial institutions

In a statement, the CBI said besides Agarwal, then executive director Santhanam Muthaswamy, directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal and Ravi Vimal Nevetia and another company, ABG International Pvt Ltd, had been named in the case.

The SBI had first filed a complaint on November 8, 2019. The CBI had sought some clarifications on March 12, 2020, to which the bank replied that a fresh complaint was filed in August that year. “After scrutinising the case for over a year-and-a-half, the CBI acted on the complaint and filed an FIR on February 7, 2022,” an agency spokesperson said.

The company was sanctioned credit facilities from 28 banks and financial institutions with the SBI having an exposure of Rs 2,468.51 crore, it said. The CBI said a forensic audit had shown that between 2012 and 2017, the accused colluded to commit illegal activities, including diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.