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Indian Express
28-05-2025
- 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.
Barnama
27-05-2025
- Business
- Barnama
Anwar, Emir Of Qatar Hold Talks To Strengthen Bilateral Ties
KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani today held an in-depth and constructive discussion on further strengthening the longstanding bilateral ties between the two nations. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2nd ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, held in conjunction with the 46th ASEAN Summit. '(Malaysia-Qatar) have an enduring friendship that has flourished over the past five decades and continues to grow with time,' Anwar said in a post on Facebook. He said the discussion covered strategic areas including investment, trade, defence cooperation, energy, digital connectivity industry, and education. Anwar said both parties also agreed to explore new cooperation opportunities for the mutual benefit of their people and expedite several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) that have yet to be finalised between the two nations. 'Malaysia remains committed to further strengthening this close relationship. May the friendship between Malaysia and Qatar remain strong and enduring, Insya-Allah,' said Anwar. The Qatari delegation includes Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Faisal Thani Al-Thani, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, as well as Chief of the Amiri Diwan Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Mubarak Al-Khulaifi. Qatar is a member of the GCC, which also includes Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The ASEAN-GCC Summit, first held in 2023 in Riyadh, serves as a platform to enhance cooperation between Southeast Asia and the Gulf region.
Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Indian Express
ED launches probe against BMC officials, contractors in multi-crore Mithi River desilting scam
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai has initiated a money laundering probe against officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and contractors, among others, for their alleged role in financial irregularities linked to the civic body's Mithi River desilting scam. Highly placed sources confirmed the development and said that the central agency has begun a parallel inquiry. The agency, however, is yet to register an official case but it may soon do so based on the predicate offence registered by the Mumbai police, the sources added. Once ED registers a case, it will summon accused BMC officials, contractors, and others for questioning by the agency, sources said. The ED's parallel money laundering probe in the alleged Mithi River desilting scam is based on the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Earlier this month, the SIT booked 13 people, including five private contractors, three BMC officials, three middlemen, and two private company 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. Mithi River is an 18.64-km long seasonal river having both residential slum pockets and industrial patches alongside, and plays the role of a natural stormwater drainage channel for Mumbai, carrying excess water during the monsoon. But, over the years, it has been used by local residents to dump garbage, sewage, and industrial waste, polluting it to a significant level. After the 2005 Mumbai flooding, the authorities realised the issues with the Mithi River, and the government put in efforts to clean the sludge from the riverbed to ensure uninterrupted water flow. It has been alleged that massive corruption occurred in the desilting work sanctioned and carried out by the BMC. EOW SIT officials conducted preliminary inquiries for months and 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 (MoU). 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 the accused. Bilal Shaikh, Inspector, EOW SIT, is the complainant in the case. EOW officials said more First Information Reports (FIR) are likely to be registered in the future. Sources said the EOW will issue notices to the accused for questioning soon. Sources said ED officials are closely scrutinising the financial dealings and transactions related to the desilting work contracts. Mithi River desilting scam As per the Mumbai police FIR, initially filed with the Azad Maidan police, 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's FIR also mentioned that the accused Deepak Mohan and Ketan Kadam of Matprop, told the contractors that Jay Joshi is the owner of Virgo Specialties and Kadam is looking after the work of Voder India LLP. They allegedly told the contractors that the Matprop firm will ink the MoU, but the machinery rental agreement will be with Virgo Specialities Pvt Ltd and Voder India LLP, and the two-year rental of the machinery will cost Rs 8 crore. After the negotiations, it was decided to pay a rental of up to Rs 4 crore for two years. This is how Matprop, in collusion with the BMC SWD division officials, forced the contractors to go to these two companies without the MoU and got more financial benefits from the contractors, EOW officials stated in the FIR. What the EOW has found so far The SIT under EOW 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 Storm Water Drains (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 own 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 has 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.
Shafaq News
25-02-2025
- Business
- Shafaq News
Iraq finalizes agreement with BP to develop Kirkuk oil fields
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, the Iraqi government signed an agreement with British energy giant BP to develop and rehabilitate four major oil fields in Kirkuk, in the presence of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, marking the 'final step' before the official contract is concluded. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office highlighted that the agreement follows a 'series of negotiations on technical and contractual aspects, including the economic model of the project.' These negotiations build on the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed in London during Al-Sudani's recent visit to the UK, aimed at 'securing the best contractual terms and maximizing benefits' for Iraq. The statement further noted, 'These agreements ensure the optimal utilization of energy resources, secure crude oil supplies for northern refineries, and reduce dependence on oil from the south.' The agreement includes the development of four major oil fields in Kirkuk—Bai Hassan, Kirkuk (including the Baba and Avana domes), Jambur, and Khabbaz—as well as the utilization of associated gas, the rehabilitation and expansion of gas facilities at North Gas Company, and the construction of a 400-megawatt power plant, forming a 'comprehensive strategic' project. The statement highlighted that the project would 'create job opportunities across various specializations, engage local companies, and implement social benefit initiatives.'
Iraq Business
20-02-2025
- Business
- Iraq Business
Iraq Reviews Implementation of UK Agreements following PM's Visit
By John Lee. Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani chaired a meeting on Wednesday to follow up on the outcomes of his recent official visit to the United Kingdom. The meeting assessed the progress of the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed during the visit and discussed mechanisms for their implementation. Al-Sudani emphasized the importance of activating all areas of cooperation in line with the Joint Statement on the Strategic Bilateral Defence Relationship, with a particular focus on economic, oil, industrial, and agricultural development. He also highlighted the significance of agreements with British universities and partnerships between private sector companies from both nations. The Prime Minister directed ministries to conduct sector-specific follow-ups to accelerate the implementation of MoUs, ensuring they translate into concrete agreements and projects. (Source: PMO)
