The State Bank of India (SBI) has said that it had filed a case with the CBI in November 2019 against ABG Shipyard, alleging a large Rs 22,842 crore bank fraud, reported mint. It went on to say that in December 2020, a second, more comprehensive complaint was filed with the agency.

SBI stated in a statement that the account is now undergoing “liquidation under an NCLT driven process,” and that there was “no effort to delay the process” at any point in time, according to Mint.

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“The lender’s forum diligently follows through with CBI in all such cases,” SBI said. The consortium of banks has accused ABG Shipyard of financial diversion, theft, and criminal breach of trust.

According to news agency PTI, the CBI has charged ABG Shipyard Ltd and its then Chairman and Managing Director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, along with others, with cheating a consortium of banks led by SBI of over Rs 22,842 crore.

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Concerning the case’s timeline, SBI stated that ABG Shipyard, which was founded on March 15, 1985, has been under banking arrangements since 2001.

 “Financed under consortium arrangement over a two dozen lenders. The leader in Consortium was ICICI Bank. Due to poor performance, the account became NPA on 30/11/2013. Several efforts were made to revive the company operations but could not succeed,” a statement from the biggest state-owned bank said.

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All lenders restructured the company’s loan account using the CDR process in March 2014, according to SBI, adding that the shipping sector was in a downturn, one of the worst ever experienced, and the company’s activities could not be revived.

According to the SBI, when the restructuring failed, the ABG Shipyard’s account was categorized as NPA (non-performing asset) in July 2016, with backdated effect from November 30, 2013. Lenders appointed E&Y as forensic auditors in April 2018, and they submitted their reports on January 19.

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SBI has stated that, while ICICI Bank was the consortium’s lead lender and IDBI was the second lead, it was preferable that SBI, as the largest PSB lender, file the complaint with CBI.