CBI questions former ABG Shipyard CMD Rishi Agarwal
PremiumEarlier, the CBI had issued look out notices against Rishi Agarwal and other directors in the case to prevent them from leaving the country
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned former chairman and managing director of ABG Shipyard Ltd Rishi Agarwal in connection with its probe into the ₹22,848 crore alleged banking fraud, news agency PTI reported on Thursday.
Agarwal was examined recently, the PTI report quoting officials said without giving details of exact date of his examination.
Earlier, the CBI had issued look out notices against the accused in the case to prevent them from leaving the country. A day after the look out circulars were issued, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a criminal case of money laundering against ABG Shipyard, its former promoters along with others.
The ED will specifically look into the alleged "diversion" of bank loan funds, the creation of shell firms to launder the public money and the role of the executives of the company and others, according to officials.
In its biggest bank fraud case, the CBI last Saturday booked ABG Shipyard Ltd and its then CMD Rishi Agarwal along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) 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.
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.
The forensic audit has shown that between 2012-17, the accused colluded together and committed illegal activities including diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.
Funds were used for purposes other than for which they were released by banks.
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