The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday questioned Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, the former chairman and managing director of ABG Shipyard, the private shipping firm accused of defrauding a consortium of 28 banks to the tune of ₹22,842 crore.
The grilling of Rishi Agarwal comes days after the central probe agency had registered an FIR against him and carried out searches across 13 locations including Surat, Bharuch, Mumbai and Pune.
The CBI interrogation comes a day after the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case in the alleged bank fraud case.
A senior ED official on condition of anonymity told Hindustan Times that the agency would probe the alleged diversion of funds by the office bearers of ABG within India and abroad.
Preliminary investigations have suggested that there could be at least 100 shell companies involved in the case which were used for diverting public money, the official added.
Incorporated in 1985, ABG Shipyard allegedly took loans from a consortium of banks led by ICICI, IDBI and later SBI in 2001. The CBI said that the account of ABG Shipyard was declared a non-profitable asset (NPA) in 2013. The non performing assets were worth ₹22,842 crores and majority of disbursement had taken place between 2005 and 2012.
The forensic auditor EY had found diversion of funds in 2019, prompting the SBI to approach the Central Bureau of Investigation the same year.
Also read: ABG Shipyard bank fraud under UPA, withdrawal of states consent a challenge: CBI