ED files money laundering case in ABG Shipyard bank loan case

The ED has registered a criminal case of money laundering against ABG Shipyard Ltd, its former promoters along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks of over Rs 22,842 crore, official sources said on Wednesday. The action comes days after the CBI registered an FIR in the country's biggest alleged bank loan fraud case.

The ED case has been filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the investigators studied the CBI complaint and the forensic audit report, sources said. They added that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will specifically look into the alleged "diversion" of bank loan funds, the creation of shell firms to launder the public money and the role of the executives of the company and others.

The CBI had booked ABG Shipyard Ltd and its then chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal along with others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks of over Rs 22,842 crore. It had also named the then executive director Santhanam Muthaswamy, directors Ashwini Kumar, Sushil Kumar Agarwal and Ravi Vimal Nevetia and another company ABG International Pvt Ltd for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and abuse of official position under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The accused in the ED case are the same, they said.