The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a money laundering case against ship building company ABG Shipyard and its former directors in an alleged bank fraud case, The Indian Express reported.
The Enforcement Directorate filed the case four days after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a first information report, in which it accused the company of defrauding a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 22,842 crore. This is reportedly the biggest bank fraud case that the Central Bureau of Investigation has registered.
The Enforcement Directorate has registered the case against ABG Shipyard and its former directors Rishi Agarwal, Santhanam Muthuswamy and Ashwini Kumar. It will investigate the alleged diversion of bank loans, the creation of shell companies to launder money and look into the role of the former directors, NDTV reported, citing anonymous officials.
The Enforcement Directorate is likely to summon Agarwal, Muthuswamy and Kumar to Delhi for questioning soon. The agency may also issue lookout circulars against the accused persons in order to ensure that they do not flee the country, according to The Indian Express.
On Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation had said that it has issued lookout circulars against the accused persons in the case.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the fraud was related to huge transfers by the shipbuilding company to its related parties and subsequent entries in the books to adjust for the discrepancies.
“It is also alleged that huge investments were made in its overseas subsidiary by diverting bank loans,” the central agency claimed. “The critical period of the investigation is 2005-2012.”
The State Bank of India filed a complaint with the central agency in November 2020 to look into the alleged bank fraud, the Central Bureau of Investigation said. Between April 2019 and March 2020, various banks of the consortium also declared the account of the ABG Shipyard as fraudulent.
ABG Shipyard allegedly owes private bank ICICI Rs 7,089 crore, IDBI Bank an amount totalling Rs 3,634 crore, the State Bank of India Rs 2,925 crore and Bank of Baroda Rs 1,614.
The company also owes the Punjab National Bank and Indian Overseas Bank Rs 1,200 crore, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
On Monday, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to make the India a $5 trillion economy, but instead bank frauds have crossed Rs 5 trillion in the last seven years, PTI reported.
“After Rs 22,842 crore of public money was swindled, the ease of committing fraud in the country is the new scheme launched by the Modi government for bank fraudsters,” he added.
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