Look-out notice issued against BMC’s Jaiswal on ED alert

BMC's ex-AMC and IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal, being probed by the ED in the Jumbo Covid Centres scam, was not allowed to take a flight to Sri Lanka due to a Look Out Circular issued against him. The ED is investigating the BMC's expenditure on pandemic-related contracts and a fixed deposit in Jaiswal's wife's bank account. Jaiswal denies any wrongdoing and claims he is being politically targeted. The ED probe has found that a significant portion of the contract payment was diverted to shell firms and partners.

COVID CENTRE SCAM

Thane, India - March 4, 2020: Thane civic commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal finally handed over his charge as the Thane Municipal Corporation’s civic commissioner in Thane ,India, Wednesday, March 04,2020.( Praful Gangurde/ HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The BMC’s ex-additional municipal commissioner (AMC) and IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering investigation related to the alleged Jumbo Covid Centres scam, was allegedly not allowed to take a flight to Sri Lanka last week due to a Look Out Circular (LoC) issued against him on the agency’s alert.

Jaiswal had reportedly planned to go on a personal trip but had failed to give prior intimation to the ED, the agency’s sources said. The ED’s LoCs have been issued against several persons who are under its scanner in the case, and are being carried out at the country’s entry and exit points, including airports, to prevent/regulate the said persons’ exit out of the country, ED sources said.

Confirming the development, an ED source said that when the immigration authorities informed them about Jaiswal ‘s proposed trip to Sri Lanka, the agency verified whether his trip was for official purposes or for personal reasons. When it was determined that Jaiswal ‘s trip was personal, the immigration authorities were asked not to let him take the flight to Sri Lanka.

The ED had on June 30 questioned Jaiswal for over 10 hours in connection with the money-laundering probe into the civic body’s ₹4,000-crore expenditure on pandemic-related contracts, including a ₹38-crore contract pertaining to Jumbo Covid Centres given to a private firm. The agency is also probing the ₹5-crore fixed deposit in Jaiswal’s wife’s bank account, which was opened during the pandemic, and has asked him to explain its antecedents, including the source of the funds.

Jaiswal was questioned on his role in the BMC’s award of a ₹38-crore contract to Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS), as he was one of the senior officials who were part of the decision-making process. “Jaiswal was also part of the tender committee and the process to lay down the conditions. It is being verified if he has any link with the proceeds of the contract,” an ED official had then told HT.

When HT asked Jaiswal about the LoC, he said, “This is not true. I don’t know the source nor am I aware if a LoC has been issued or not. I was planning a personal trip for which I had official permission but I cancelled it at the last minute as I decided to go for a puja at Ujjain last Saturday. I have already been made a scapegoat for no fault of mine. This is political vendetta into which I am being dragged.”

The ED probe had begun with an FIR registered by the Azad Maidan police in August 2022 against the LHMS partners. According to the FIR, the company, which was unregistered, submitted forged documents to the BMC, and had neither adequate staff nor experience in providing manpower to a medical facility. It was blacklisted by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, but the BMC still awarded it a contract worth ₹38 crore, of which a payment of ₹30 crore was made.

Sources claimed that the ED probe had also established that of this ₹30 crore, around ₹22 crore was diverted to “certain shell firms and to the firm’s partners”. Last month, the ED conducted searches at 15 locations, including Jaiswal’s premises.

Denying any role in the alleged wrongdoings, Jaiswal had told the ED that the decision to award the contract to LHMS was a collective one and he was just one of the signatories. During the pandemic, Jaiswal played the role of a coordinator between several agencies involved in setting up the Jumbo Covid Centres. He was, however, not associated with any civic purchase/acquisition via the BMC’s central purchase department, as he was not the latter’s administrative head, ED sources said.