‘Eight pots with human remains found’: Lilavati Hospital files Rs 1,250-crore fraud case against 7 ex-trustees, 10 others

“The current board of trustees, after taking charge, roped in a forensic auditor, and financial irregularities worth nearly Rs 1,250 crore surfaced. After this Prashant Kishore Mehta, 55, a permanent trustee in Lilavati Hospital, approached the Bandra police, but as they refused to file an FIR, Mehta approached a Bandra court and filed a complaint regarding the fraud, and the court directed the Bandra police station under section 175(3) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to register an FIR. The Bandra police registered a case. The case may soon be transferred to the EOW (economic offences wing),” Singh said.

Mehta alleged in the FIR that “the accused, while working as an alleged trustee in the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT), in connivance with other accused companies as well as their directors, by allegedly adopting different methods in the purchases of medical equipment, furniture and pictures, computers, other equipment, medical and legal books, office equipment, electrical equipment, vehicles and ambulances, land and building, surgical consumables, pharmacy, chemist, etc., embezzled funds and committed a fraud”.

The police have booked the 17 accused, including former trustees and equipment suppliers and vendors, under sections 403, 406, 409, 420, 465, 467, 471, 474, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Three FIRs against former trustees

Param Bir Singh said the current case is the third FIR registered against the former trustees. The first FIR was lodged in July 2024 with the Bandra police station on charges of cheating and forgery involving Rs 12 crore. The second FIR was filed in December 2024 on the directions of the Bandra court against ex-trustees for allegedly syphoning of funds worth Rs 44 crore under the pretext of legal fees paid to the lawyers. The investigation of the case is with the EOW.

“We have also written to the Enforcement Directorate and requested they take cognisance of the three FIRs, as these are predicate offences, and there was also money laundering and huge properties amassed abroad using proceeds of the crime,” the former police commissioner said.

“We want a fair and impartial investigation. They should be brought to the books and face the investigation,” Singh added.

‘Black magic articles found’

According to Param Bir Singh, some former employees of the trust reported some months ago that black magic rituals had been conducted in the office where permanent trustee Prashant Mehta and his mother Charu Mehta sit.

“Eight pots filled with human remains, rice, human hair, and other black magic material were found buried when the office floor was dug up. After police refused to lodge a complaint, we approached Bandra court, and now the magistrate himself is inquiring into the matter under section 228 of the BNSS,” the former police commissioner said.

Prashant Mehta said this was the biggest fraud in the hospital industry and that it had impacted the functioning of the Lilavati Hospital. “This is a charitable trust, and the money which was syphoned off with mala fide intentions could have been utilised in building up three more such hospitals for the welfare of the society and needy people,” Mehta said.

In March 2021, Singh was removed as Mumbai police commissioner and posted to the home guards in the wake of the bomb scare near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s home, Antilia. Three days later, Singh wrote to then Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleging that then home minister Anil Deshmukh had asked assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, later arrested by the NIA in the Antilia bomb scare case, to collect Rs 100 crore every month, including Rs 40-50 crore from some 1,750 bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

Later, the CBI arrested Deshmukh in the case. Multiple extortion FIRs were filed against Singh in Mumbai and Thane later. However, all these cases were closed against Singh and his suspension was also revoked by the government.