Jumbo Covid centre irregularities: ED names four more in supplementary chargesheet

ED files supplementary chargesheet in Mumbai Covid centres scam, naming four new accused in a ₹21.07 crore fraud involving fake staff deployment.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary chargesheet in the money laundering case involving alleged irregularities at two jumbo Covid centres in Mumbai. The chargesheet names four additional accused: Sunil Kadam, 53, Sonu Bajaj, 53, Sanjay Parab, 53, and Ravikant Singh, 53.

Jumbo Covid centre irregularities: ED names four more in supplementary chargesheet

A supplementary chargesheet is an additional document filed by the police in a criminal case, containing new evidence or information that was not available when the original chargesheet was submitted.

According to the ED, these individuals played a crucial role in generating proceeds of crime by fraudulently obtaining a tender from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to supply medical staff for the Dahisar and Worli jumbo Covid facilities.

A private firm, Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS), secured the contract in June 2020 to provide doctors, nurses, and other staff to the centres from July 2020 to February 2022. The ED claims the firm used incomplete documents to obtain the tender and violated the terms of the Expression of Interest (EoI). This included significant under-deployment of staff and the submission of fake attendance sheets to the BMC to claim payments.

The ED’s investigation revealed that LHMS received ₹32.44 crore from the BMC, of which ₹21.07 crore was unlawfully gained through fraudulent practices. These funds were siphoned off into the personal accounts of the firm’s partners and their accomplices.

The chargesheet identifies other key individuals involved, including Sujit Mukund Patkar, a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut. Patkar, along with LHMS partners and BMC officials, allegedly manipulated attendance records and staff deployment data to clear payments.

Further, the ED found that two shell firms, MS Consultancy and MS Elegant Multi Services, were set up by Ravikant Singh and Sanjay Parab to launder over ₹8 crore received from LHMS. Fake bills were also submitted to the BMC by LHMS employees, including Prince Vishwakarma, Dr Arvind Singh, Dr Sandeep Gupta, and Yogesh Ullengala.

The firm issued 82 invoices worth ₹32.7 crore to the BMC during the contract period, with over half the medical staff never deployed at the centres. Sujit Patkar liaised with BMC officials to secure the contract and cleared forged attendance records. Dr Kishore Bisure, then dean of the Dahisar centre, allegedly approved falsified bills in exchange for kickbacks. Sunil Kadam facilitated the tender process despite not being an official partner and transferred proceeds to his wife and associate Sonu Bajaj.

Sanjay Parab and Ravikant Singh received ₹3.4 crore and ₹2.5 crore respectively, allegedly for their involvement in fraudulent staff deployment. The ED noted that LHMS lacked the requisite experience to manage such contracts and its actions endangered the lives of vulnerable Covid patients. The scam at the Dahisar and Worli centres resulted in ₹21.07 crore in unlawful gains, emphasising the scale of malpractice during a critical health crisis.