An indictment has been filed against Rishi Agarwal, the former chairman of ABG Shipyard, and others by the CBI
CBI officials announced on Saturday that they filed a charge sheet against former ABG group chairman Rishi Agarwal and other individuals and entities in connection with an alleged bank fraud of Rs 22,842 crore involving ABG Shipyard Ltd.
According to the charge sheet filed before the special CBI court, the agency has named as accused Agarwal as well as five individuals and 19 companies, including three Singapore-based firms.
Charges have been filed against 25 individuals, including the chairman and promoter of a Mumbai-based private company, the chief financial officer and vice president of the same company, respectively; afterwards, the company’s statutory auditor was appointed. In an ongoing investigation relating to an alleged fraud of Rs 22,842 crore (approximately), he was the assistant vice president (accounts); another individual handled the group’s offshore entities; and the company’s statutory auditor.
So far, the agency has detected an alleged diversion of Rs 5,000 crore and is continuing the investigation.
It has also been reported that the CBI has seized some luxury properties owned by Agarwal.
On February 7 this year, the agency filed a complaint against the State Bank of India alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust, and abuse of official position under the IPC.
It was part of a consortium of 28 banks and financial institutions led by ICICI Bank with an exposure of Rs 2,468.51 crore. The ABG Shipyard is considered a significant player in the Indian shipbuilding industry and operates from its shipyards located at Dahej and Surat in Gujarat with the capacity to build vessels up to 18,000 deadweight tons (DWT) at Surat shipyard and 1,20,000 deadweight tons (DWT) at Dahej shipyard, according to an FIR.
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