Latest news with #KetanKadam
News18
4 days ago
- Business
- News18
Actor Dino Morea's Brother's Firm Received ₹18 Lakh From Mithi River Scam Accused: EOW
Last Updated: Mithi River Scam: Both Dino Morea and Santino Morea were summoned and questioned twice earlier this week by the EOW. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, which is investigating the multi-crore Mithi River desilting scam, found that ₹18 lakh was transferred to UBO Ridez, a company where Santino Morea- brother of Bollywood actor Dino Morea- serves as a director. According to police officials, the funds were transferred by Ketan Kadam, one of the prime accused in the case. 'We are investigating the reason for the transfer of funds from Ketan Kadam's account to UBO Ridez," an officer from the EOW told The Times Of India. Ketan Kadam is associated with Vodar India LLP and was arrested earlier this month for his alleged involvement in the scam related to the desilting of the Mithi River. Investigators noted that both Vodar India LLP and UBO Ridez- an electric cart company- operated out of the same address near Famous Studio in Worli, Mumbai. Officials also confirmed that Ketan Kadam's wife, Sheetal Kadam, is a director at UBO Ridez, along with Santino Morea. Following the registration of a First Information Report (FIR), the EOW conducted a search at the company's shared office premises. Both Dino Morea and Santino Morea were summoned and questioned twice earlier this week by the EOW in connection with the financial transaction and their association with the companies under scrutiny. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are examining financial records and company documents to determine the nature of the transaction and whether it was linked to the alleged scam. First Published: May 31, 2025, 14:32 IST
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Mithi River desilting fraud: Cops probing bank transactions between Dino Morea, arrested accused
MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has found a couple of bank transactions between actor Dino Morea and Ketan Kadam, one of the arrested accused in the Mithi River desilting fraud case, officers said. The transactions are from the period of the alleged financial irregularities found in the desilting work contracts, from 2019 to 2022, officers added. An EOW officer said the agency learned about the financial transactions between Morea and Kadam, who have known each other for around 25 years, after the latter was arrested and interrogated. The officer, however, refused to divulge further details such as the amounts involved in the transactions and who paid whom. Morea and his brother Santino were also called in for questioning on Wednesday regarding the transactions. The siblings reached the EOW's office around 1 pm and were questioned until late in the evening, the officer said. They were also asked to bring some documents, which are being verified, added the officer. This was the second time this week that the Moreas were called in for questioning. They were interrogated for eight hours on May 26 after the EOW came across phone records indicating the brothers had been in contact with some people linked to the case. The agency has also found that Santino Morea and Ketan Kadam's wife, Punita, are directors in a private company, UBO Ridez Private Limited, which operates Victoria-style electric carriages in Mumbai. The EOW has also initiated the process of hiring an audit firm to assist it in the investigation. Since there are multiple firms and bank accounts involved, a forensic audit is required to get clarity in the case, said the officer. The agency has booked 13 people so far in the case, including three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officers. The EOW has also sought certain documents from the civic body, as it is investigating how Ketan Kadam's desilting services company, Woder India LLP, got various civic contracts. Kadam was arrested on May 7, along with Jayesh Joshi, who is associated with Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based industrial product manufacturer. The case involves alleged financial irregularities, inflated tenders, and corrupt practices linked to desilting work for the Mithi River, which, according to the EOW, led to a loss of ₹65.54 crore for the BMC. The accused BMC officers are accused of publishing tenders for desilting machines and equipment with tailored specifications such that a Kochi-based company, Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd, got a monopoly. When contractors approached Matprop to buy the equipment, they were directed to Joshi and Kadam, who, in connivance with the company, rented the machines at inflated rates, according to the agency.
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Indian Express
SIT questions actor Dino Morea, brother Santino again over Mithi River desilting scam
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is questioning actor Dino Morea and his brother Santino Morea again on Wednesday for their alleged links with people suspected to be involved in the multi-crore Mithi river desilting scam. On Monday, the SIT questioned the two men for nearly eight hours in connection with the case. They were then asked to be present before the investigators on Wednesday. Dino and Santino appeared before the SIT on Wednesday afternoon. Dino Morea is reportedly closely linked to arrested accused and alleged middleman Ketan Kadam of Vodar India Ltd. Officers with the EOW suspect he may have helped the accused influence contractors. Earlier this month, the SIT had booked 13 people, including five private contractors and three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, for causing wrongful loss to the civic body worth more than Rs 65.54 crore in the alleged scam. Desilting work contracts worth nearly Rs 1,100 crore are under the scanner. Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai, too, initiated a money laundering probe against BMC officials and contractors, among others, for their alleged role in financial irregularities linked to the civic body's Mithi River desilting scam. EOW SIT officials came across various financial irregularities pertaining to contracts for desilting the river between 2021-22 and 2022-23. These irregularities were related to the transportation of sludge and its dumping on the ground. EOW found that the contractors submitted nine fake Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). The Mumbai police named BMC assistant engineer Prashant Ramugade; deputy chief engineers Ganesh Bendre and Prashant Tayshette; Deepak Mohan, Kishore Menon, Jay Joshi, Ketan Kadam and Bhupendra Purohit, the directors of Acute Designing, Kailash Construction Company, NA Construction, Nikhil Construction, and JRS Infrastructure, respectively, as accused. What the SIT FIR says As per the Mumbai police FIR, the accused BMC officers allegedly misused their positions for wrongful financial gains. The FIR further alleges that they conspired to defraud the BMC financially by including terms and conditions as mentioned in the contract agreement regarding the silt pusher machine and the multipurpose amphibious pontoon machine. They allegedly colluded with Mohan Menon of Matprop Company, Joshi of Virgo Specialties, Ketan Kadam, and other partners and directors of Vodar India LLP, and contractor Bhupendra Purohit, among others. 'The accused BMC officer of the Storm Water Drains (SWD) division of the municipal corporation, without verifying the authenticity of the dumping sites mentioned in the false and fabricated MoU submitted by the directors of the contractor companies Acute Designs, Kailash Construction Company, N A Construction, Nikhil Construction Company, JRS Infrastructure and others, provided and helped contractors take disadvantage,' the EOW officer stated in the FIR. Also, the FIR added that officials of the SWD division caused financial loss to the BMC by approving bills based on fake documents related to the weighbridge and log sheets. The EOW SIT has already arrested two middlemen — Ketan Kadam and Jay Joshi — in the case. Joshi is the owner of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, and Kadam is from Voder India LLP. EOW officials seized electronic devices from Kadam and copies of posting orders of officials in the BMC's SWD department. The police have also received notes of entries of money received from the contractors of the Mithi River desilting work. Investigators suspect that these are entries of the commissions. SIT officials have also found raw draft copies of BMC tenders from the seized devices. According to the EOW, Kadam was a hotelier before 2019, and he had no experience in desilting work. However, since 2020, he has been involved in inking deals involving Matprop company with various contractors for the disputed silt pusher machine and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machine and in making rental agreements for the said machinery on behalf of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd and Voder India LLP, even though they are not related, making the contractors pay his salaries and forcing them to accept the rental by demanding more than the cost of the machine. Although Kadam is not a partner or director in Virgo Specialties or Voder India, he allegedly signed the rental agreement as an authorised person and has kept the information about why he signed such agreements hidden. The EOW also found some records in coded language in the seized electronic device.
News18
7 days ago
- News18
Why Is Dino Morea Being Questioned? What Is Rs 65-Crore Mithi River Scam? The Money Flow Explained
Last Updated: Mumbai Mithi river scam: Dino Morea and his brother were questioned about their alleged links with middleman Ketan Kadam arrested in the case along with another accused, Jai Joshi Film actor Dino Morea and his brother were on Wednesday questioned by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police in the alleged Rs 65-crore Mithi river desilting scam. This is the second time in the past three days that the actor was called for questioning. Morea and his brother Santino appeared before EOW officials at the Mumbai Police Commissioner's office in south Mumbai to record their statements. The brothers were questioned about their alleged links with a middleman, Ketan Kadam, arrested in the case along with another accused, Jai Joshi, according to PTI. #WATCH | Maharashtra: Actor Dino Morea reaches EOW office in is being questioned in connection with the Mithi River cleaning scam. Earlier, the officials had questioned Dino Morea for about 7 hours yesterday. — ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2025 MUMBAI's MITHI RIVER The Mithi River, which spans 17.8 km, originates from the overflow of the Vihar and Powai lakes and emptying into the Mahim Creek and the Arabian Sea. Pollution and silt build-up, which in turn blocked the flow from the stormwater drains, was seen as one of the reasons behind the July 2005 flooding in Mumbai, which claimed over 1,000 lives. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's wealthiest civic body, has initiated multiple desilting projects for the river since then to avoid a repeat. WHAT IS THE ACTOR'S CONNECTION? As per the preliminary probe, Morea and his brother had repeated phone conversations with Kadam, an official told PTI, adding the EOW team also found some suspicious transactions of the arrested accused and were probing if the actor had any role in these transactions. Kadam and Joshi were involved in the renting out of 'silt pusher' machines and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machines to contractors who were carrying out Mithi river desilting work in the city. THE ARRESTS Earlier this month, the EOW registered a case against 13 persons, including civic officials and contractors for their alleged involvement in a scam concerning the desilting of the river which flows through the city and drains into the Arabian Sea. First Published: May 28, 2025, 16:53 IST
India Gazette
26-05-2025
- India Gazette
Dino Morea questioned by Mumbai Police in Mithi river desilting case
ANI 26 May 2025, 19:09 GMT+10 Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 26 (ANI): Actor Dino Morea is being questioned by the EOW of Mumbai Police in connection with the Mithi river desilting case. His name came up in the investigation for having connections with one of the arrested accused in the matter, according to Mumbai Police. The Economic Offences (EOW) Wing of Mumbai Police had earlier this month arrested two alleged middlemen - Ketan Kadam and Jay Joshi - in connection with the Mithi river desilting case. They were produced on the same day in the court and are now in judicial custody. The two were among 13 people booked by EOW of Mumbai Police in connection with the alleged fraud. There are allegations that the accused charged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) inflated amounts for dredging and other equipment. Meanwhile, on the work front, Morea will be next seen in Akshay Kumar's Housefull 5. Directed by Tarun Mansukhani and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala under Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, the film is set to release in theatres worldwide on June 6 later this year. The accumulation of silt in reservoirs and water bodies leads to a reduction of their water storage capacity. Rivers pick up, carry and drop silt load as per their regime conditions, i.e. discharge in the river, river slope, morphology, nature of silt. Periodic surveys to assess the current capacity of water bodies are primarily undertaken by state governments. (ANI)
