Rishi Agarwal, former ABG Group chief, arrested in Rs 23,000 crore bank fraud
India Today
The CBI has arrested Rishi Agarwal, the founder and chairman of ABG Group. He is an accused in a Rs 22,842 crore bank fraud case.
The founder-chairman of ABG Shipyard Limited, Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, today in connection with an alleged bank fraud of over Rs 22,842 crore, officials said.
The CBI charged Agarwal and others with criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and abuse of official position under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.
According to the probe agency, ABG Shipyard Ltd has been in business with the State Bank of India since 2001. “The majority of the disbursement happened between 2005 and 2012 by a consortium of 28 banks led by ICICI Bank and including SBI.
Between April 2019 and March 2020, several banks of the consortium declared ABG Shipyard’s account as fraudulent.
The company’s account turned into a non-performing asset on November 30, 2013, with a majority of disbursements taking place between 2005 and 2012. 28 banks have been defrauded to the tune of Rs 22,842 crore by the accused firm and its executives, the CBI had said in February.
“The fraud is primarily on account of a huge transfer by ABG Shipyard Ltd to its related parties and subsequently making adjustment entries. It is also alleged that huge investments were made in its overseas subsidiary by diverting bank loans. The critical period of the investigation is 2005-2012,” the CBI had said in a statement.
After analysis of basic facts of the case, scrutiny, discreet verification, an FIR was registered by the authorities on February 7, 2022.
