ED raids in ABG Shipyard money-laundering and bank loan fraud case cover up: Cong

But when did the government take action

The Congress on Wednesday said the ED raids in connection with a money-laundering probe against ABG Shipyard Limited was a ''cover up'', alleging that the action against the accused was delayed and now, people are being fooled by such steps.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided multiple premises in Mumbai, Pune and Surat on Tuesday in connection with its money-laundering probe against ABG Shipyard Limited in a Rs 22,842 crore bank loan fraud case, officials said.

Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, ''The ED action against Rishi Aggarwal (former managing director of ABG Shipyard) has started now, even though a letter was written to the CBI in 2019 about this.... What is the point of this ED action now?'' ''This cover up is being done so that it is said that the government has taken action. But when did the government take action? First it facilitated the running away of the accused and then it is trying to fool us by this action,'' Khera said.

The ED raids were conducted to gather financial documents and related information of the company and its former promoters and linked persons, the officials said.

The ED had filed the money-laundering case in February after studying a CBI FIR against the former promoters of the ship-building company, apart from a forensic audit report prepared on the operations of the group.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked ABG Shipyard Limited and its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Aggarwal, along with others, for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks of over Rs 22,842 crore.