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  • February 15, 2022

India files complaint against ABG Shipyard alleging $3 billion bank fraud.

NEW DELHI, INDIA – ABG Shipyard Ltd and its promoters have been charged with defrauding banks of 228.42 billion Indian rupees ($3.03 billion) by India's government investigation agency.

A forensic audit report it got from the banks two years ago showed instances of fraud in April 2012 and July 2017, according to the report, which was uploaded on the Central Bureau of Investigation's website.

ABG Shipyard could not be reached for comment and did not react to an email sent to them right away. The shipbuilder, which was named one of India's "dirty twelve" extremely indebted enterprises by the central bank, has filed for bankruptcy.

The company owed 70.89 billion rupees to ICICI Bank, 36.34 billion rupees to IDBI Bank, 29.25 billion rupees to the State Bank of India, 16.14 billion rupees to Bank of Baroda, 12.44 billion rupees to Punjab National Bank, and 12.28 billion rupees to Indian Overseas Bank, according to figures from the forensic audit included in the CBI complaint.

The forensic audit was filed with the CBI by the State Bank of India, which handled ABG Shipyard's accounts.

The fraud took the form of diversion of funds, "misappropriation and criminal breach of trust with a purpose to gain unlawfully at the cost of the Bank's finances," according to the report, which was included in the CBI complaint filed on Sunday.

It stated that "the money was used for purposes different than those for which the funds were provided by the Bank."

75.3188 Indian rupees = $1.