Covid jumbo centres scam: IAS officer’s properties worth Rs 100 cr under ED lens

According to sources, Jaiswal claimed that he has been made scapegoat in the ongoing crackdown by the ED saying he was functioning on behalf of the state government during the Covid pandemic and was not solely involved in the purchasing of equipment, medicines and sanctioning contracts. He said that senior bureaucrats and civic officials were involved as well but only he is being targeted. He also claimed that the properties that are under the ED scanner are his ancestral properties that have now become worth over Rs 100 crore due to the current market price.

Jaiswal who was summoned by the agency for questioning however skipped the summon, seeking time. The agency will soon be issuing a second summon to him. Jaiswal was not available for comment.

Work for a month, bills for a year

The ED has written emails to 200-300 doctors who rendered their services during the pandemic, as some of them gave their bio-data to the BMC, while others worked for the civic body. They told the ED that they worked for 15-30 days for the BMC, but entire year’s billing was made in their name. The ED has stumbled upon transactions and records indicating billing of worth Rs 20 crore.

Ex-mayor on radar

The ED sources said that they have come across the involvement of former city mayor Kishori Pednekar’s role in the alleged scam. Pednekar is suspected to be aware of the majority of the irregularities and she also gave instructions for sanctioning contracts of supplies to particular entities. Beside Pednekar, many senior BMC officials are also under scanner.

ED sources said that from next week, key suspects will be summoned for questioning. The agency has already seized 12 mobile phones of BMC officials, middlemen, suppliers and contractors. It has also scanned WhatsApp communications of the four partners of Lifeline Hospital Management Services, a partnership firm of Sujit Patkar, a close aide of Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut. The agency has claimed to have got key leads from the chats.

Received 12 complaints

After the crackdown the ED said it has received 12 complaints, including those against four to five senior officers and people in political circles. Some of the complainants are citizens while some of them are competitors of the suspects. Along with sharing details of the Covid jumbo centres scam, the complaints also provided details of other scams.

“We have now come across names of 5-6 more entities, which are under the scanner for their involvement in the unlawful practices,” a source said.

A team of ED officers on Thursday also visited the BMC’s Central Purchase Department (CPD) in Byculla to examine and collect purchase documents pertaining to contracts sanctioned during the pandemic. It is through this department that all the expenditures related to BMC’s health department take place.

Role of Yuva Sena’s secretary Suraj Chavan, who is believed to be close to Aaditya Thackerey, is also being probed to find if he used his influence to ensure that Lifeline Hospital Management Services get the contract, another source said.

Case history

ED’s probe into the alleged scam is based on a case registered by the Mumbai police in August 2022 at the Azad Maidan police station on a complaint by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. In October 2022, the case was transferred to the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Later, the ED registered a PMLA case in the matter.

The case relates to the field hospitals set up in Mumbai by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. The BMC was looking after providing healthcare staff and other facilities on contract basis. It was alleged by the BJP that contracts were given at exorbitant rates to contractors linked to Shiv Sena leaders, despite the fact that they did not have prior experience in healthcare services.

The criteria followed while awarding the contracts is under investigation along with the criminal aspect of the alleged scam, while the ED is probing the money laundering aspect and trying to track the money trail.

The FIR filed on August 24, 2022, names Lifeline Hospital Management Services, which was contracted by the civic body to set up Covid jumbo centres in Mumbai, and its partners Sujit Mukund Patkar, Dr Hemant Ramsharan Gupta, Sanjay Madanlal Shah and Raju Nandkumar Salunkhe. In January this year, Mumbai police EOW obtained the details pertaining to sanctioning of contracts and payments to Lifeline Hospital Management Services.

Complainant Kirit Somaiya stated in his complaint that the accused firm did not have any experience in providing health or medical services. The firm got the contract on the basis of forged documents, including its partnership deed, the complaint said. Somaiya also alleged that the firm was blacklisted by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority for providing medical services, but the firm concealed this fact from the BMC and managed to get the contract for providing services in jumbo centres.

The EOW has so far arrested two persons — Raju Nandakumar Salunke alias Rajiv, 48, one of the partners of LHMS and Bala Ramchandra Kadam alias Sunil, 58.