NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday stepped up its attack on the BJP government asking why the prime minister and the finance minister were silent on the big banking fraud of Rs 22,842 crore by ABG Shipyard.
The opposition party also asked why Rishi Agarwal, the promoter of the Gujarat-based company, had been not arrested till date.
Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to make India's economy of USD 5 trillion but instead gave the country bank frauds of Rs 5.35 trillion in the last 7.5 years.
He claimed that according to an RTI reply by the RBI, recovery rate in 2020-21 of these frauds is 0.7 per cent. He also claimed that the average daily loss to the banking industry due to frauds was Rs 195.5 crore.
"After Rs 22,842 crore of public money was swindled, the ease of committing fraud in the country is the new scheme launched by the Modi government for bank fraudsters," he told reporters.
Vallabh said the biggest bank fraud of Rs 22,842 crore happened under the Modi government and after a 5 year delay, the CBI finally registered an FIR on February 7, 2022, against ABG Shipyard, owned by Agarwal and others, for duping 28 banks.
"The Modi government is running 'Loot and Escape' and 'ease of committing fraud' as a flagship scheme for bank fraudsters.
The fraudsters' lists include Nirav Modi i.e. Chhota Modi, Mehul Choksi, Ami Modi, Neeshal Modi, Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Jatin Mehta, Chetan Sandesara, Nitin Sandesara and many others, and Rishi Agarwal and others are the new entrants in the list of fraudsters.
"Why are the PM and the FM mum on India's biggest banking fraud of Rs 22,842 crore? Why has Rishi Agarwal, the promoter of ABG Shipyard, not been arrested till date," the Congress leader asked.
He also questioned the status of Agarwal's citizenship and why the RBI is behaving as a mere spectator without any action.