The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered with ABG Shipyard Ltd, its former promoters, for allegedly defrauding banking organizations of more than Rs 22,842 crore, PTI reported, citing sources on Wednesday.
The case was filed under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after investigators investigated a CBI complaint and an audit report.
Officials reportedly said the ED would directly address the “diversification” of bank loans, the construction of shell firms to burn public funds, and the role of corporate executives and others.
It comes a day after the CBI said it had issued observation notices against Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, former chairman and executive director of ABG Shipyard.
In India. The Code of Justice (IPC) and the Anti-Corruption Act. It also named then-chief Santhanam Muthuswamy, directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal, Ravi Vimal Nevetia, and another company, ABG International Pvt Ltd, on charges of conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust, and abuse of official position. They said the suspects in the ED case were the same.
The CBI said that the Look Out Circulars (LOCs) had been opened by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the suspects when they discovered they were Indian suspects.
Continuing the investigation, the CBI conducted searches at 13 locations on February 12.
The officials said they had received several charges against them, such as the borrower’s account books, still being processed.
After more than a year and a half of “processing,” the CBI took the complaint and filed an FIR case on February 7. The State Bank of India (SBI) reopened the LOC to the main defendant on November 8, 2019, when a central investigative body sought specific explanations on March 12, 20.
Officials said the main case has a lot of details and records as 28 banks are involved and need to be verified before going with the FIR. They said the company allegedly invested in several companies that required further scrutiny.
The CBI stated that the company and its promoters used the funds (bank loans) for purposes other than those issued by banks. The loan account was declared as an intangible asset (NPA) in July 2016 and fraud in 2019.
In its complaint, the SBI stated that ABG Shipyard Ltd (ABGSL) is a leading ABG Group company involved in shipbuilding and shipbuilding.
ABGSL, a significant player in the Indian shipping industry, operates in the Dahej and Surat areas of Gujarat, with 18,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) vessels at Surat Shipyard, a deadweight of 1,20,000. Tonnage (DWT) at Dahej Shipyard.
“The company has built more than 165 vessels, including 46 in the export market, over the past 16 years; which include specialized containers such as newspaper carriers, bulk, and cement carriers, floating cranes, etc.
All this happens with the permission of international communities like Lloyds, American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, IRS, DNV, “the complaint stated.
“The global crisis has had an impact on the shipping industry due to declining commodity demand and declining commodity demand,”
the SBI complaint said.
It also added that there was no need for commercial vessels. The industry faced an economic crisis even in 2015, exacerbated by the lack of security documents, making it difficult for the company to maintain a payment system.
He said the company has already been referred to NCLT, Ahmedabad, by ICICI bank for a business solution process.
Edited By- Subbuthai Padma
Published By- Satheesh Kumar
