Mithi River scam: ED summons actor Dino Morea
What's the story
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Dino Morea as part of its money laundering investigation into the alleged ₹65 crore Mithi River desilting scam.
He has been asked to appear before the agency next week.
The summons were issued a day after the agency conducted searches at Morea's Mumbai residence.
This is the first time the central agency has called him for questioning in this case.
Notably, Morea is a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray.
Past interrogations
Morea has been questioned twice by the EOW
Morea has been questioned twice by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, which is also investigating the case.
Morea and his brother were summoned by EOW after call records revealed frequent communication between them and Ketan Kadam, a middleman arrested in the case.
The scam involves suspected financial irregularities in desilting work done between 2007 and 2021.
Kadam allegedly played a key role in coordinating desilting contracts and machinery rentals.
Ongoing investigations
Investigators suspect that tenders were manipulated
The EOW previously booked 13 individuals, including Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials and contractors, for allegedly processing fraudulent payments for incomplete or non-existent work.
The ED and EOW are investigating the roles of numerous civic officials, contractors, and suppliers in this case.
Investigators suspect that tenders for hiring specialized dredging equipment were manipulated in favour of specific suppliers, resulting in heavy losses to the BMC.
The Mithi River has long been a concern over flooding and ineffective desilting efforts.
Related entities
ED also searched the premises of Morea's brother
The ED also searched the premises of Morea's brother, Santino, and Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd, which provided machinery for desilting.
The probe is being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to untangle the proceeds of crime committed in tenders awarded from 2017-2023 for desilting the Mithi River.
The Mumbai Police has alleged that BMC officials tailored the tender for the desilting contract to benefit a particular supplier of machinery.
Past case
Morea was linked to another ED case
In 2021, Morea was also involved in another ED case when his assets were attached as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank fraud case against Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena controlled the BMC from 1997 till the party's split in 2022.
After the general body's expiry, the civic body was controlled by the State government, headed by the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena.