ABG Shipyard Case | CBI to question former CMD Rishi Aggarwal today

Rishi Aggarwal, ex-CMD, ABG Shipyard (Image: ANI)

Rishi Aggarwal, the former chairman and managing director (CMD) of ABG Shipyard Limited, on February 21 reached the headquarter of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to join the ongoing investigation into the Rs 22,842 crore bank loan fraud case, news agency ANI reported.

On February 7, 2022, the CBI had filed a first information report (FIR) against ABG Shipyard, the flagship firm of the ABG Group, some of its top executives, unknown public servants, and private persons, accusing them of abuse of official position, criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust.

Criminal conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust and all that went wrong with ABG Shipyard

The FIR was based on a complaint filed by the State Bank of India, which alleged that the accused people had colluded and committed illegal activities including diversion of money borrowed from banks for purposes other than what was stated.

Then, on February 15, the CBI issued lookout notices against Rishi Agarwal and other directors of ABG Shipyard in connection with the massive bank fraud case, to make sure they do not leave the country while the case is being probed.

According to the CBI, a forensic audit report it received from the banks two years ago had found instances of fraud in April 2012 and July 2017.

In its biggest bank fraud case, the CBI had on February 12 booked ABG Shipyard Ltd and its former chairman and managing director (CMD) Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) of over Rs 22,842 crore.

According to figures from the forensic audit that were included in the CBI complaint, the company owed Rs 7,089 crore to ICICI Bank, Rs 3,634 crore to IDBI Bank, Rs 2,925 crore to the State Bank of India, Rs 1,614 crore to the Bank of Baroda, Rs 1,244 crore to Punjab National Bank, and Rs 1,228 crore to the Indian Overseas Bank.