Covid: Sanjay Raut aide & doctor held in first arrests in Covid hosps scam | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: The ED on Thursday arrested businessman Sujit Patkar, a close friend of UBT Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, and Dr Kishor Bisure in a laundering case linked to BMC’s Covid field hospitals scam. These are the first arrests in connection with the scam.

Patkar and three other partners of Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS), in connivance with BMC officials, are accused of fraudulently bagging contracts for setting up or managing Covid-19 field hospitals. Bisure was dean of a jumbo centre at Dahisar. The BMC was assigned the job of providing healthcare staff and other facilities on a contract basis.
“It is suspected that an offence of this magnitude is not possible without implicit/explicit complicity of senior functionaries of the BMC. They have siphoned off monies thus received through a web of dummy companies in the name of manpower contracts. Preliminary investigation revealed that at least 50-60 % medical staff (doctors and nurses) were non-existent,” said ED while seeking remand of the arrested accused. The contract was awarded under supervision of then additional municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal and his seniors. The ED has already questioned Jaiswal.
Patkar carried out Rs 32cr fraud; Rs 24cr diverted to shell cos: ED
A special court on Thursday remanded Sujit Patkar and Dr Kishor Bisure, arrested in the Covid field hospitals scam, in ED custody till July 27. The ED said sustained custodial interrogation of the arrested was required to unearth trail of funds, for corroboration and for confrontation with other persons involved in the case. Judge M G Deshpande said, “In my opinion thorough investigation is necessary. If the application is rejected the very purpose of investigation under PMLA will be paralyzed.”
The contract was awarded under supervision of then additional municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal and his seniors. The ED has already questioned Jaiswal.
The ED alleged Patkar orchestrated this fraud amounting to Rs 32 crore by obtaining tender in favour of LHMS, incorporated in 2020. Within a month of formation, LHMS got the contract of managing the Dahisar field hospital from BMC despite not having any experience in the field. Subsequently, LHMS got a contract for another field hospital in Worli. ED sources said BMC cleared Rs 32 crore payment to LHMS for the Dahisar hospital, of which only Rs 8 crore was used for the work. Rest of the money was diverted into accounts of shell companies or individual accounts for personal use. Dr Bisure was heading the Dahisar hospital. The role of many BMC officials is under scanner.
The ED said, “He (Bisure) was hand in gloves (sic) with partners of LHMS and did not ensure the required number of medical staff in the center and rather allowed/approved the fabricated bills which were shown on required deployment of medical personnel on the basis of fake attendance sheets of LHMS. It is also revealed that valuable items and cash were given to Bisure by LHMS. Bisure also received a laptop and cash personally as well as funds in the bank account of his driver.” It further stated that investigation revealed “huge discrepancies/irregularities in the attendance sheets and documents submitted to BMC by staff of LHMS. In this regard, letters were issued to the doctors, nurses and staff reportedly engaged in Jumbo Covid Centers of LHMS; most of these letters were returned undelivered to the postal authorities.”