Mithi River desilting fraud: ED summons a dozen people, including Dino Morea

The summons were issued a day after the agency carried out searches at 18 locations across Mumbai, Kochi and Thrissur in connection with the investigation

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned at least a dozen people, including actor Dino Morea, officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), civic contractors and intermediaries, for questioning related to its money laundering investigation into the execution of contracts for desilting the Mithi River. All the summoned people have been asked to appear for questioning at the agency’s Mumbai office next week, said an official aware of developments.

Bollywood-actor-and-Jism-2-co-producer-Dino-Morea-poses-for-a-photo-during-the-promotion-of-the-film-in-Mumbai-on-July-26-AFP-Photo

The people summoned included those named and questioned previously by the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which had registered an FIR in connection with the alleged fraud last month. According to the EOW, irregularities in executing desilting work contracts for the Mithi River have resulted in a loss of ₹65.54 crore for the BMC and, in turn, the public exchequer.

The development comes a day after ED carried out searches at 18 locations across Mumbai, Kochi and Thrissur in connection with the investigation. The search operation covered the residential/office premises of Morea and his brother Santino Morea, BMC engineer Prashant Ramgude, civic contractor Bhupendra Purohit, intermediaries Jay Joshi and Ketan Kadam, and Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based company that rented machinery and equipment for the desilting work.

According to an ED press release issued on Saturday, the evidence collected during the investigation and search operation prima facie indicates that Ramgude, Purohit, Joshi, Kadam, officials of Matprop, and others “colluded to form a cartel with the intent to manipulate BMC tenders” related to the desilting of Mithi River.

“This action effectively conferred a monopoly in the award of desilting contracts of Mithi River and caused payments at inflated rates for desilting works, resulting in undue gains to the contractors and associated parties, thereby causing financial loss to the public exchequer. These undue financial gains have been concealed by layering them through certain shell companies/firms, which were formed by collusion amongst Ketan Kadam, Bhupendra Purohit, Prashant Ramgude and other private individuals,” the release said.

During Friday’s search operation, the ED seized ₹7 Lakh in cash, and froze 22 bank accounts/fixed deposits and one demat account. The total amount seized or frozen is more than ₹1.25 crore so far, the ED said. The agency has also seized digital devices and incriminating documents during the searches.

The ED’s investigation is based on the EOW’s FIR, in which 13 people and entities were booked, including Joshi, Kadam, and three BMC officials. Joshi, the director of industrial product manufacturer Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, and Kadam, the controller of desilting services company Woder India LLP, were later arrested. A sessions court granted Joshi bail on June 5.

According to the ED, Dino and Santino Morea are “close associates” of Kadam. The EOW had interrogated the two brothers last week after finding financial transactions between them and Kadam’s family. The police suspect that the transactions, which took place during the period of the alleged fraud—from 2019 to 2022—could be linked to the desilting contracts. Santino Morea and Kadam’s wife, Punita, are also directors of a Mumbai-based company, UBO Ridez Private Limited, which operates Victoria-style electric carriages, according to the EOW.

As per the EOW’s investigation, the three BMC officials booked in the case allegedly tailored the tender for the desilting contracts to benefit Matprop, resulting in the company’s monopoly over the contracts. When the BMC’s contractors approached Matprop for desilting equipment, they were directed to approach Joshi and Kadam, who, in connivance with the company, allegedly rented the machines at inflated rates. Matprop’s director, Dipak Mohan, who was also booked in the case, has denied that he or his company were involved in the fraud.

The accused also allegedly fudged records to increase the amount of silt to be removed from the Mithi River to benefit the contractors and the rates that they were supposed to be paid, according to the EOW.