Majority of loan given to ABG Shipyard during UPA time: CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said the bank account of private shipping firm ABG Shipyard was declared a non-profitable assets as per the State Bank of India in 2013, this when the Congress-led UPA government was in power. In between April 2019 and March 2020, various banks of the consortium declared the account of ABG Shipyard as fraud. The fraud is primarily on account of huge transfer by ABG Shipyard to its related parties and subsequently making adjustment entries, the CBI said in a statement. The CBI referred to the forensic audit of the firm from 2012 to 2017 stated that the company was also referred to the national company law tribunal in Ahmedabad on August 1, 2017 by the ICICI Bank for corporate insolvency resolution process. The CBI referred to the records of the investigation, stating that the critical period was 2005-2012. The probe agency cited withdrawal of general consent by the states behind delay in filing the cases.

CBI Note by Newsinc 24

ABG Shipyard was incorporated in March 1985. It took loans from a lender consortium led by ICICI, followed by IDBI and SBI in early 2001. The company's bank account became NPA in Nov 2013 during UPA rule. The account was restructured in March 2014, this too under the UPA regime. Meanwhile,lookout circulars have been issued against the bosses and senior executives of ABG Shipyard in a Rs 23,000 crore alleged bank fraud case. A lookout circular is used to stop any person wanted by the law enforcement authorities from leaving the country via airports and border crossings.