Page 11 - Banking Finance March 2022

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SEBI appoints two new Santhanam Muthaswamy, Ashwini Finance ministry tells de-
Kumar, Sushil Agarwal, and ABG Inter-
EDs national Pvt Ltd as accused in the FIR. partments to restrict ex-

Manoj Kumar and Sunil Kumar, the two The CBI is also probing the role of pub- penses within limits
chief general managers with Securities lic servants and bank officials in the In a bid to maintain fiscal deficit within
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), fraud. This is one of the biggest fraud the targeted limit, the finance minis-
have been promoted to the rank of cases being probed by the anti-graft try has asked ministries and depart-
Executive Director (ED), an office or- agency in terms of money siphoned in ments to restrict their expenses with
der by the regulator said. For the first a single case, sources said. The CBI filed the revised estimates.
time, SEBI will have 11 EDs handling the FIR on a complaint from the State
various portfolios. In September 2020, Bank of India for allegedly causing a In an office memorandum seeking pro-
Manoj Kumar was appointed as ED of massive loss to the exchequer. posals for the third and final batch of
International Finance Services Centres "It was alleged that the said accused Supplementary Demands for Grants,
Authority (IFSC) the regulator for GIFT had cheated the consortium of 28 the economic affairs department un-
City in Gandhinagar. Kumar will return banks including the branches of erst- der the finance ministry asked the min-
to SEBI's Mumbai office in the new while State Bank of Patiala, Commer- istries and departments to submit their
role now. proposals by February 10.
cial Finance Branch, New Delhi, erst-
while State Bank of Travancore, Com- "While processing proposals for supple-
CBI FIR against Guj ship- mercial Branch, New Delhi, State Bank mentary grants, the grant-controlling
authority must invariably identify sav-
ping firm for Rs. 23000 cr of India, Overseas Branch, Mumbai
etc. The consortium of 28 banks was ings available within the grant so that
bank fraud led by ICICI Bank," CBI spokesperson the infructuous or inflated supplemen-
The CBI has filed an FIR against a RC Joshi said. ABG Shipyard, which is tary demands are weeded out and the
Gujarat-based shipping firm and its di- based at Surat, was engaged in the eventuality of surrender after obtain-
rectors for allegedly duping a consor- business of shipbuilding and ship repair. ing supplementary grant is avoided," it
tium of banks of Rs 22,842 crore. The As per the CBI's FIR, the firm - which is said.
agency also conducted searches at 13 The proposal for Supplementary De-
estimated to have constructed over
premises of the accused company and 160 vessals - owed Rs 7,089 crore to mands for Grants may be projected
its officials located at Surat, Bharuch, ICICI bank, Rs 3,634 crore to IDBI after a thorough and objective assess-
Mumbai and Pune, which led to recov- Bank, Rs 2,925 crore to SBI, Rs 1,614 ment of additional requirements of
ery of incriminating documents. funds, it said.
crore to Bank of Baroda and over Rs
The agency has named ABG Shipyard 1,200 crore to Punjab National Bank "All the ministries and departments
and its directors Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal, and Indian Overseas Bank. have been requested to contain the

BANKING FINANCE | MARCH | 2022 | 11