SBI Says No Delay In Filing Of Case On ABG Shipyard Fraud

New Delhi: Amid allegations of delay in submitting of criticism towards the nation's greatest financial institution fraud totaling Rs 22,842 crore, State Bank of India (SBI) on Sunday mentioned it has been diligently following the ABG Shipyard fraud case with the CBI following the forensic audit report.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) just lately booked ABG Shipyard Limited, its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal and others for allegedly dishonest a consortium of two dozen lenders led by ICICI Bank.ABG Shipyard fraud is far larger than the one perpetrated by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, who allegedly cheated the Punjab National Bank (PNB) of round Rs 14,000 crore by means of issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).Congress normal secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala whereas addressing a press convention questioned as to why did it take 5 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 requested.Responding to the allegation, SBI in a press release mentioned a fraud is asserted foundation the forensic audit report findings which are mentioned totally in joint lenders conferences and when a fraud is asserted, an preliminary criticism is most popular with the CBI and primarily based on their enquiries additional data 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 mentioned.Mr Surjewala mentioned SBI wrote to the CBI in November 2018, "saying there was a fraud committed by ABG Shipyard and seeking the registration of an FIR and criminal action. Despite this, nothing happened and the CBI pushed the files back to the SBI." Sharing the timeline of occasions, the assertion mentioned the mortgage, given by a consortium of lenders led by ICICI Bank, turned NPA on November 30, 2013.Several efforts have been made to revive the corporate operations however couldn't succeed, it mentioned, including the account was restructured beneath CDR mechanism in March 2014 by all lenders nevertheless it couldn't be recused."As the restructuring failed, account classified as NPA (non-performing asset) in July 2016 with back dated effect from November 30, 2013. E&Y were appointed as forensic auditor by lenders during April 2018 and they submitted their report in January 2019. E&Y report was placed before the Fraud Identification Committee of 18 lenders in 2019. Fraud is mainly attributed to diversion of funds, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust," it mentioned.Although, ICICI Bank was the lead lender within the consortium and IDBI was the second lead, it was most popular that SBI being the biggest public sector financial institution, lodges the criticism with CBI, it mentioned."The first complaint was filed with CBI in November 2019. There was continuous engagement between CBI and Banks and further information was getting exchanged," the financial institution's assertion mentioned.The circumstances of the fraud in addition to CBI necessities have been additional deliberated within the varied conferences of Joint Lenders and a contemporary and complete second criticism was filed in December 2020, it additional knowledgeable.The account is presently present process liquidation beneath a NCLT-driven course of.The Forensic Audit has proven that between 2012-17, the accused colluded collectively and dedicated unlawful actions together with diversion of funds, misappropriation and prison breach of belief. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)