Fraud case: CBI issues lookout notice against ABG Shipyard

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday has issued Look Out Circulars (LOCs) against ABG Shipyard, the flagship firm of the ABG Group and some of its top executives to prevent them from leaving the country due to their alleged involvement in a bank fraud case of over Rs 22,842 crore. 

"ABG Shipyard Ltd has been in business with SBI since 2001. The account of ABG Shipyard turned NPA on November 30, 2013 (as per SBI). As per Bank Complaint, the non performing asset (NPA) is to the tune of Rs 22,842 crore(approx) and the majority of the disbursement happened between 2005 and 2012 by a consortium of 28 banks led by ICICI Bank and including SBI" , stated the CBI.

The Directors of the shipping firm include Rishi Agarwal, Santhanam Muthuswamy and Ashwini Kumar. CBI, issuing a statement on Tuesday, said that the accused have been located in India. The State Bank of India (SBI) had also opened LOC against the main accused in 2019. 

According to the Central agency, ABG Shipyard defaulted on Rs 22,842 crore loans that it owed to 28 banks including the State Bank of India. 

"In the instant case, there are 28 banks involved in consortium with huge amount of disbursement. There were different nature of bank loans including CC Loan, Term Loan, Letter of Credit, Bank Guarantee etc. that were given as advance by the banks" , the Central Bureau of Investigation stated.