Bollywood actor Dino Morea was questioned by the Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing on Friday in connection with the alleged Rs 65.54-crore Mithi River desilting scam, as investigators examine transactions and links involving one of the accused in the municipal contract case.
Morea reached the EOW office at around 1.30 pm and joined the investigation. A senior EOW officer said he had been called to verify facts that emerged during the probe. Morea had earlier been questioned twice in May last year after investigators identified transactions between him and Ketan Kadam between 2019 and 2022.
Kadam, the owner of Woder India LLP and chief executive officer of Virgo Specialties, was arrested on May 7 along with Jayesh Joshi, who was associated with Virgo Specialties. They were among 13 people booked for allegedly causing a Rs 65.54-crore loss to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation through contracts related to desilting work on the Mithi River. The EOW has so far arrested three people in the case.
The investigation also concerns the corporate links between the accused and Morea’s family. Morea’s family member Santino Rocco Morea and Punita Kadam, Kadam’s wife, were directors in UBO Ridez Private Limited, which operates Victorian-era-style electric carriages in Mumbai. Santino was questioned by the EOW last year.
Investigators are examining alleged financial irregularities, inflated equipment rental rates and other corrupt practices in contracts awarded for removing silt from the river. The EOW alleges that some BMC officials travelled to Kochi in October 2020 to procure desilting equipment from Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. Specifications in subsequent tenders allegedly matched Matprop’s machines, effectively requiring contractors to use the equipment.
According to the investigators, contractors who approached Matprop were directed to Kadam and Joshi, who allegedly rented out the equipment at inflated rates. The EOW is also examining how Woder India LLP secured various civic contracts.
The probe widened after investigators examined contractors appointed under the desilting tenders. Borivali-based contractor Shersingh Rathod, whose firm Maideep Enterprises was among five contractors awarded work in 2021-22, was arrested in August. The EOW alleges that the firm submitted fake photographs and videos to show that silt had been removed from the river.
Investigators allege that trucks shown in the material as transporting silt had instead carried building debris. Rathod subsequently produced agreements purportedly signed with landowners in Bhiwandi and Panvel for dumping the silt. Officials said the landowners denied knowing Rathod and told investigators that the documents and signatures had been forged. In one case, an agreement purportedly signed in April 2021 was in the name of a landowner who had died three months earlier.
The EOW alleges that Rathod used forged documents and submitted bills worth Rs 29.63 crore in the name of Maideep Enterprises, which were cleared by BMC officials. The investigation into the alleged Mithi River desilting scam is continuing, with the agency examining the contracts, equipment arrangements, payments and role of officials and private entities involved in the work.
