ABG Shipyard fraud: SBI says no delay in filing of case

SBI on Sunday said it has been diligently following the ABG Shipyard fraud case with the CBI following the forensic audit report.

Amid allegations of delay in filing of complaint against the country's biggest bank fraud totaling Rs 22,842 crore, State Bank of India (SBI) on Sunday said it has been diligently following the ABG Shipyard fraud case with the CBI following the forensic audit report.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently booked ABG Shipyard Limited, its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal and others for allegedly cheating a consortium of two dozen lenders led by ICICI Bank.

ABG Shipyard fraud is much higher than the one perpetrated by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, who allegedly cheated the Punjab National Bank (PNB) of around Rs 14,000 crore through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala while addressing a press conference wondered as to why did it take five years after the liquidation proceedings of ABG Shipyard to lodge even an FIR for duping 28 banks of Rs 22,842 crore.

"Why did the Modi government refuse to take note of the allegations made on February 15, 2018, by the Congress, warning of a scam in ABG Shipyard, and why no FIR was lodged and criminal action taken despite their accounts having been declared as fraud on June 19, 2019?" he asked.

Responding to the allegation, SBI in a statement said a fraud is declared basis the forensic audit report findings that are discussed thoroughly in joint lenders meetings and when a fraud is declared, an initial complaint is preferred with the CBI and based on their enquiries further information is gathered.

"In a few cases, when substantial additional information is gathered, a second complaint incorporating full and complete details is filed which forms basis for the FIR. At no point in time, there was any effort to delay the process. The lenders forum diligently follows through with CBI in all such cases," it said.