Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
In the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s ongoing investigations in the Covid-19 jumbo centre scam, the central agency has also come across other glaring irregularities that allegedly occurred in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the pandemic. The anti-money laundering agency has now widened its probe into BMC’s overall expenditure of Rs 4,000 crore during Covid-19 and is closely scrutinising purchases, deals, award of contracts and other transactions during the pandemic, agency sources said on Friday.
Many senior civic officials, contractors, suppliers and politically exposed persons have come under the agency’s radar. The agency has managed to access details of many suspicious deals and purchases and will now start calling the persons concerned for inquiry from next week.
Focus on 4-5 middlemen
The ED has identified 4-5 middlemen who were instrumental in majority of the irregularities and were controlling majority of the malpractices in the BMC. “These middlemen were deciding which suppliers would get the contract and were indirectly giving the contracts,” said an agency source. The agency has managed to lay its hands on WhatsApp chats, dairies and details of cash transactions made allegedly by these middlemen with the suppliers, politicians and BMC officials, sources said.
The middlemen allegedly first finalised a deal with a supplier and later prepared specifications suitably to ensure the same supplier qualified the process and got the contract. The middlemen would reject other bidders not suiting their business, the sources added. Two of the middlemen were also covered in the recently conducted searches.
Suraj Chavan
Yuva Sena secretary Suraj Chavan, who is close to Aaditya Thackerey, is suspected to be one of the four middlemen the ED has identified. Chavan’s name as a middleman cropped up in four to five contracts directly. Cash transactions linked to Chavan are being scrutinised. Chavan’s four flats worth Rs 10 crore have been identified by the ED that were purchased during the pandemic.
ED sources claimed that when they were going through the records of the BMC, they learnt that the BMC had received bids for body bags where the supplier was offering to provide them for Rs 1,100 and Rs 2,610, but rejecting these bids, the BMC purchased body bags for nearly Rs 6,800 apiece from another supplier who is now under scanner.
Remdesivir bought at higher price
ED’s investigations have revealed that the BMC purchased Remdesivir at Rs 4,100 despite knowing that another government body, the Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER), was purchasing the same medicine at Rs 3,200. When these irregularities surfaced then a proposal was put up to regularise this. But, the decision was shot down by the top brass of the BMC, allegedly including municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal and an additional commissioner rank officer, by claiming there is no such provision to change once the order has been finalised. ED sources said that BMC officials could have easily avoided this loss of public money. They could have also coordinated with DMER and placed excess orders with them at the rate they were purchasing and later collected the same. But no such things happened, an ED source said.
ED officials have found that besides overbilling in purchasing body bags and medicines, there was also misappropriation of funds in the accommodation and food of BMC personnel. During the pandemic temporary rented accommodations and food were arranged for civic staff, doctors and nurses as no one could go back to their homes due to restrictions on movement. Payments of rents to hotels and other accommodation owners were paid for the period when the restrictions on movement were not there and people could go back to their homes. Similarly payment for food was done for the same period.
Jaiswal, Chavan summoned
The ED has summoned IAS Sanjeev Jaiswal and Suraj Chavan to appear before the agency on Monday and face the inquiry. ED sources hinted that the agency may summon Iqbal Chahal again to join the investigations.
ED is currently investigating money laundering charges in the Covid-19 jumbo centre scam 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.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram