22 December,2023 04:22 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
A patient waits outside the Dahisar jumbo COVID-19 centre, owing to unavailability of beds, on April 19, 2021. Pic/Satej Shinde
On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced the attachment of assets totalling more than Rs 12 crore in connection with the alleged Mumbai Covid centre scam, including assets linked to Sujit Patkar, a rumoured associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, stated a report in PTI.
According to the report, as part of thee probe, which involves lifeline Hospital Management services, the assets provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) includes three Mumbai flats, mutual funds, and bank deposits. Sujit Patkar, Dr Hemant Gupta, Rajeev Salunkhe, Sanjay Shah, and Sunil Kadam alias Bala Kadam are among those involved.
The report added that the ED's investigation focuses on alleged irregularities at the Jumbo Covid facilities in Dahisar and Worli, which are linked to a case filed by the Mumbai Police. Sujit Patkar, a former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation dean at the Dahisar Jumbo Covid Centre, and Dr Kishore Bisure, a former BMC dean at the Dahisar Jumbo Covid Centre, were arrested earlier and are currently in judicial custody.
According to reports, the irregularities are related to a tender issued by the BMC in June 2020 for the supply of human resources to various Jumbo Covid facilities. Lifeline Hospital Management Services allegedly won the tender with incomplete and false documents, resulting in significant under-staffing despite billing for full attendance.
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Reportedly, the ED stated that the Lifeline Hospital Management Services partners received Rs 32.44 crore from BMC authorities between September 2020 and June 2022, in collusion with BMC staff. Patkar and other partners, according to the agency, diverted these funds to purchase assets, repay housing loans, and make real estate investments.
"During the service period, the EOI conditions were not maintained by the partners of Lifeline Hospital Management Services and there was huge under-deployment of the staff members. However, the invoices were submitted by showing adequate staff attendance as per the EOI conditions through fake and fabricated attendance sheets and staff records at Dahisar Jumbo Covid facility and no attendance/staff data was submitted for the Worli Covid facility," the ED statement was cited in PTI report.
On September 15, the ED filed a chargesheet in this case before a special PMLA court in Mumbai.
