Mumbai: Bollywood actor Dino Morea appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday and joined the ongoing money laundering probe linked to the multi-crore Mithi River desilting scam. Morea, known to be a close friend of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, arrived at the ED’s Ballard Estate office along with his brother Santino Morea.
The questioning lasted for over four and a half hours, after which the Morea brothers left the ED premises. The duo was summoned following searches conducted at their Mumbai residences and offices on June 6.
The central agency is probing Dino Morea alleged connections with Ketan Kadam, a key middleman implicated in the scam. Morea, known to be a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, has come under scrutiny due to his two-decade-long association with Kadam. The agency is investigating whether Morea played any role in helping the accused to influence contractors.
The central agency identified five to seven financial transactions worth around Rs 18 lakh between the Morea brothers and Kadam. These transactions are a key focus of the probe.
The investigation revealed that Santino Morea co-founded an electric cart company UBO Ridez Pvt. Ltd. with Punita Ketan Kadam, wife of the arrested middleman. Established in December 2017, the company introduced electric carriages to replace banned Victoria horse-drawn carts in Mumbai. Both Punita Kadam and Santino Morea hold equal 50% stakes in the firm. The accused Ketan Kadam invested 18 lakhs into UBO Ridez.
The ED is probing whether investments in UBO Ridez and other assets were financed through proceeds from the alleged Rs 65 crore scam. Sources said the central agency has already begun investigating the properties acquired by the accused during the scam period and the source of funds used to purchase them.
Last week, the ED conducted extensive searches across Mumbai, Kochi, and Thrissur at 18 locations, including the residences and offices of 13 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officers, contractors, and middlemen named in the scam. The searches included the Bandra (West) premises of the Morea brothers.
Desilting work contracts worth nearly Rs 1,100 crore are under the scanner. The Mithi River, an 18.64-km seasonal waterway running alongside residential slums and industrial zones in Mumbai, serves as a critical stormwater drainage channel during monsoons. However, it has suffered significant pollution from sewage, garbage, and industrial waste dumping.
Following the devastating 2005 Mumbai floods, the government prioritised desilting the Mithi River to restore its flow. However, investigations by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) uncovered irregularities in the desilting contracts, including tender favoritism and inflated billing, resulting in substantial financial losses for the BMC.
Preliminary police inquiries revealed financial irregularities in contracts between 2021 and 2023 related to sludge transportation and dumping. The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) further discovered that contractors submitted nine fake memorandum of understanding (MoUs), with BMC officers allegedly abusing their positions for unlawful gains.
The EOW had booked the 13 accused for causing wrongful loss to the civic body amounting to over Rs65.54 crore. Based on the EOW’s predicate offence, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) last month and initiated a money laundering investigation.
Two middlemen, Ketan Kadam and Jay Joshi, have already been arrested in connection with the case. Joshi, owner of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, has secured bail, while two serving BMC officers and one retired official have approached courts seeking anticipatory bail.
