The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at the premises of actor Dino Morea and some others in Maharashtra as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the Mithi river desilting case, officials said.
Morea was also questioned by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police a few days back. He was summoned because of the phone conversations with the prime accused, Ketan Kadam.
The federal investigation agency's raids targeted over 15 premises located across Mumbai and Kochi, including Dino Morea and his brother's residences, and the premises of contractors and middlemen.
The fraud case has allegedly caused a loss of rupees 65 crore to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
About The Case
The investigation is being carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against certain officials of the Mumbai civic body and some others based on a Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) FIR filed to probe alleged irregularities in the desilting of the Mithi river.
As per PTI, the EOW registered a case against 13 persons, including civic officials and contractors, for their alleged involvement in the scam. Two accused - Ketan Kadam and Jayesh Joshi - were arrested for allegedly acting as intermediaries in the supply of equipment, and for charging the BMC an extra amount for the said equipment.
The Mithi River flows through the city and drains into the Arabian Sea. It is alleged that tenders for renting specialised dredging equipment were manipulated to favour certain suppliers.
As per the FIR, the accused allegedly conspired to defraud the civic body by causing irregularities in the desilting, transportation, and dumping of sludge from the Mithi River between 2021 and 2023.
The case is part of a larger probe into alleged financial mismanagement and corruption linked to one of Mumbai바카라™s most critical flood-prevention infrastructure projects.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to examine an expenditure of rupees 1,100 crores made on the Mithi river desilting project between 2005 and 2021 to identify broader financial irregularities.
