Rs 38-cr Covid jumbo centre scam: ED raids 15 places in Maharashtra

The ED also searched the premises of deputy municipal commissioner (DMC) Ramakant Biradar who was the head of the Central Purchase Department, BMC, during the pandemic.

Lifeline Hospital Management Services in Sasmira Marg, Worli, as well as suppliers of oxygen concentrators and other equipment, contractors and middlemen involved in the alleged scam were also searched.

According to ED sources, there was gross misappropriation of funds in the overall Covid field centres contracts. Some money was utilised while the rest were siphoned off by making fake entries in the name of doctors  in the records, they said.

Role of Yuva Sena’s secretary Suraj Chavan is also being probed to find if he is linked to any entity which had been given sub-contract by the accused contractor, another source said.

ED’s money laundering probe into the alleged Covid jumbo field centres scam is based on a case registered by the Mumbai police in August 2022 at the Azad Maidan police station on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (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.

Somaiya had earlier alleged that a pre-bid meeting for the 100-bed jumbo facility was convened at Dahisar on June 25, 2020, and the expression of interest for the jumbo facility was called on June 27. Lifeline Hospital Management Services was established on June 26.

“Thus, even before the partnership firm came into existence, it attended a pre-bid meeting and secured the contract for operation and management of Covid ICU beds at Dahisar and was requested to mobilise manpower within seven days,” stated Somaiya in a complaint he filed before a city court in March 2022.

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. EOW’s probe has revealed that around Rs 82 lakh was transferred from Salunkhe’s bank account to Kadam’s bank account. Besides this, Rs 87.31 lakh and Rs 45 lakh were also transferred from the bank account of LHMS to Kadam’s bank account.

When Kadam was questioned about the transaction of Rs 87.31 lakh, he claimed it was used for LHMS work, but failed to provide any documents supporting his claims. Similarly, when asked about the transaction of Rs 45 lakh, he claimed that it was used to make the payment of the company’s office rent. However, the landlord of the office told EOW that he had not received any money from Kadam.

The ED and EOW have already questioned several BMC officials, including municipal commissioner IS Chahal and joint municipal commissioner (Improvement) Ramesh Pawar, who was then deputy municipal commissioner. “The questioning of Pawar revolved around finding out under whose influence the Patkar led company, Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS), was allowed to take part in the tendering,” EOW sources said. However, Pawar is not a suspect in the case.

ED officials said that soon the suspects would be summoned for questioning. Former BJP MP Somaiya has been claiming it to be a Rs 100-crore scam, but according to the EOW, it would be to the tune of Rs 38 crore.

Reacting to the development, Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut hit out at the government and alleged that the government is selectively targeting the opposition parties but not taking action against the complaints which  are filed against the ruling side.

“These is selective targeting of opposition parties. There is no action against ruling party leaders against whom complaints have been filed,” Raut said.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the alleged irregularities in setting up of Covid-19 centres in Mumbai could have resulted in many people losing their life.

Speaking to reporters in Pune, he said, “…some inexperienced companies were formed and people’s life was put at risk… A journalist in Pune died because of such mismanagement (of care centres). Hence, an inquiry into this matter (irregularities) was going on,” he said.

However, Fadnavis sidestepped questions related to Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids in Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged scam in running COVID-19 centres.

“The details of the raids, their scope and what information they (ED) have unearthed are not known to me,” said the deputy CM.