Covid centre scam: ED arrests Sujit Patkar, BMC health official Bisure

Patkar’s firm is accused of receiving around ₹31.84 crore from the BMC as part of the contract even though between 50 and 60 per cent of the medical staff at the centres for which it had billed the civic body were allegedly non-existent. Bisure had allegedly connived with the firm to approve its dubious bills related to manipulated attendance sheets of the employees at the Covid centres, and received a laptop, cash and funds in his driver’s account, the ED claimed

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday night arrested businessman Sujit Patkar, one of the four partners of the firm Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS) which bagged a ₹38-crore civic contract to supply medical manpower to the Jumbo Covid Centres in Worli and Dahisar during the Covid-19 pandemic. A senior BMC health official, Dr Kishore Bisure, who headed the civic medical team at the Dahisar centre has also been arrested in connection with the ED money-laundering probe into the alleged Covid centres scam.

Mumbai, India – July 20, 2023: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sujit Patkar in connection with the alleged Covid-19 jumbo centre scam, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, July 20, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Patkar’s firm is accused of receiving around ₹31.84 crore from the BMC as part of the contract even though between 50 and 60 per cent of the medical staff at the centres for which it had billed the civic body were allegedly non-existent. Bisure had allegedly connived with the firm to approve its dubious bills related to manipulated attendance sheets of the employees at the Covid centres, and received a laptop, cash and funds in his driver’s account, the ED claimed.

Patkar had allegedly invested only ₹12,500 towards the firm’s incorporation in June 2020. The firm allegedly had no experience in providing medical services nor did it have adequate staff.

These are the ED’s first arrests in the case. The arrested duo was remanded to ED custody till July 27 by a special PMLA court on Thursday. The ED probe has found that ₹22 crore out of the funds received from the BMC was allegedly diverted to people connected with the firm and to certain shell firms. The agency is trying to establish the end recipients.

Advocate Subash Jha for Patkar pointed out in court that there were four partners in the firm, and the ED had made a selective arrest. An FIR was registered at Azad Maidan police station in August 2022 and the case transferred to the Economic Offences Wing, which filed the chargesheet in the case. But Patkar was not shown as a witness, absconding or wanted accused in the case, Jha said.

The ED filed its ECIR in November 2022, based on the Mumbai police case, Jha said, claiming that the agency’s probe was shrouded in mystery, and the ED officials needed to explain what took them so long to arrest the accused. “This is nothing but an attempt to overreach the process of law,” the advocate argued.

The ED case is based on an FIR the Azad Maidan police registered in August 2022 against partners of LHMS. According to the FIR, which was based on a complaint filed by a senior BJP leader, the company had submitted forged documents to the BMC, and had no experience in providing manpower to a medical facility. However, the BMC awarded the company the contract. It was also alleged that the firm was unregistered, and the partnership deed submitted to the BMC was dubious.

“The investigation revealed huge discrepancies in the attendance sheets and documents submitted by the staff of LHMS,” said an ED source. “Letters were issued to doctors, nurses and staff reportedly engaged in the Jumbo Covid Centres but most of these letters were returned undelivered to the postal authorities. Some of the doctors/staff submitted that they had never worked in these centres but had appeared for the interviews and submitted their personal records to LHMS.”

The ED source said that on the instructions of Patkar and other partners of the firm, the concerned “staff” submitted its attendance in bills to the BMC, showing them as regular employees providing services at the Jumbo Covid Centres. “This arrangement was made by the LHMS with Bisure to project that the doctor-to-patient ratio was being maintained as per the specifications mentioned in the Expression of Interest issued to LHMS,” the source said.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that… only half the number of doctors and medical staff of the actual requirement of the Covid centre were deployed, putting the life and well-being of Covid patients in danger for illegal gratification and misappropriation of government funds,” the ED’s remand application stated.

The remand application added that Dr Kishore Bisure, who was heading the BMC team at the Dahisar centre, was required to ensure the proper functioning of the centre. “However, he was hand in glove with the partners of LHMS and did not ensure the required number of medical staff in the centre and rather allowed/approved the fabricated bills, which were shown on required deployment of medical personnel based on fake attendance sheets of LHMS to clear all the bills in BMC,” the remand application said.

The remand application further said that valuable items and cash were allegedly given to Bisure “by partners/staff of M/s Lifeline Hospital Management Services”.

(With inputs from Charul Shah)