ED quizzes Uddhav man for 8 hours in Covid centres scam

Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray functionary Suraj Chavan on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate which questioned him for more than eight hours in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged COVID-19 centres scam, an official said.

Chavan entered the ED office in south Mumbai at around 12.30 pm and came out at about 9 pm, the official said.

He was summoned by the ED to record his statement after the federal agency raided 15 locations in Mumbai on June 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged COVID-19 centres scam against businessman Sujit Patkar, believed to be a close aide of Shiv Sena-UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.

Chavan identifies himself as a secretary of the Shiv Sena led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and a core committee member of the Yuva Sena, its youth wing, on his social media handle.

Raids were also conducted at the residence of Chavan and the locations of some officials of Mumbai civic body and others, including IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal, officials had said.
The ED recovered jewellery worth Rs 2.4 crore and Rs 68 lakh during the raid, an official had said earlier.

Patkar and his three partners allegedly bagged Mumbai civic body's contracts fraudulently for managing COVID-19 field hospitals during the pandemic, the official said.

The Mumbai Police had registered a forgery case against Lifeline Hospital Management Services firm, Patkar, and his three partners in August last year.

Based on the FIR at the Azad Maidan police station in south Mumbai, the ED registered a case to investigate the money laundering angle.

As per the FIR, the hospital management firm partners in June 2020 submitted an alleged fake partnership deed to the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) and obtained contracts for jumbo COVID-19 care centres at NSEL, Worli, Mulund, Dahisar (in Mumbai) and Pune without having any experience in the medical field.