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Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Mithi River fraud: Intermediary Ketan Kadam paid for flight tickets, hotel stay of BMC officers, says court
MUMBAI: The flight tickets and hotel expenses of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officers who visited Kerala and Delhi to inspect desilting machines were borne by Ketan Kadam, an alleged intermediary arrested in connection with the Mithi River desilting fraud, the sessions court noted on Saturday while rejecting the anticipatory bail plea of co-accused Prashant Tayshete, a deputy chief engineer at the civic body. Ketan Kadam was arrested in May. (Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) According to the detailed order copy, which was made available on Monday, the court said it was unbelievable that a high-ranking civic officer such as Tayshete was not aware of who was bearing the expenses of his official visits and stays in Kerala and Delhi. 'The criminal element of cheating lies here,' observed the court. It added that Tayshete and other BMC officers worked hand-in-glove with Kadam to fix the terms and conditions of the tender for desilting machines so that they would benefit in the future. Tayshete was among three BMC officers booked by the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in May for alleged irregularities in contracts awarded for desilting the Mithi River. These irregularities led to a loss of ₹ 65.54 crore for the BMC, the EOW said. Kadam, the chief executive of Mumbai-based industrial product manufacturer Virgo Specialties, and the company's director, Jay Joshi, were arrested for their alleged role as intermediaries in the fraud. They were allegedly involved in charging the BMC inflated rates to rent silt pusher machines and dredging equipment supplied by Kochi-based Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. The BMC's tender was also tailored in such a way that Matprop gained a monopoly over the contracts, according to the EOW. According to the Enforcement Directorate, which has launched a parallel money laundering investigation into the alleged fraud, the evidence prima facie indicated that BMC officers, contractors, intermediaries, Matprop executives and others 'colluded to form a cartel with the intent to manipulate BMC tenders' related to the desilting of Mithi River. While applying for anticipatory bail, Tayshete had submitted that as a deputy chief engineer in the BMC's solid waste management department (SWM), he was never deputed for work related to desilting the Mithi River, which came under the stormwater drains department (SWD). But since he was a mechanical engineer, he was tasked with the inspection of stilt-pushing pontoon machines and multipurpose amphibious pontoon machines when the BMC was looking to award tenders for desilting the Mithi River. Tayshete also argued that he had no reason to see who was paying for his visits to Kerala and Delhi to inspect desilting machines, since he was told that the expenses would be borne by the BMC. He also claimed that he had signed two reports prepared by BMC officers after the site visits with the specifications of the machines to be specified in the tender, which were rejected by the BMC. He said that he was not a signatory on a third report that was eventually approved. However, the special sessions NG Shukla, in an order passed on June 21, said that there was no document to show that Tayshete was working in the SWM department and was not concerned with the SWD department. It also said that parts of a report signed by Tayshete were used to demonstrate to higher civic officials why the use of machines with certain specifications was required. 'The rates were proposed to be increased on the basis of such specification. Hence, the applicant cannot escape from the liability of raising the said rates,' the judge said. The court added that even though Tayshete did not sign the third report that was approved, there was no objection regarding the specifications and rates of the machines in the report. 'Hence, not having [the] signature of [the] applicant on the third report does not prima facie infer that the applicant had no role in inserting the terms and conditions of [the] use of machines of Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd only, and increasing the rates and thereby causing wrongful loss to the BMC,' observed the court. Meanwhile, the sessions court on Monday granted Matprop directors Dipak Mohan and Kishore Menon interim protection from arrest. They were among the 13 people booked in the case. It isn't clear why the court did so, as the detailed order copy is yet to be made available. Mohan and Menon's counsel, advocate Paavani Chadha, argued that they were falsely implicated in the case. Their plea said that Matprop had followed due procedures in approaching the relevant officials and carrying out transactions with them. They also argued that they have a proven track record of successfully supplying and maintaining machinery for water restoration projects, adding that an arrest would cause them severe reputational damage and harassment. The duo submitted that they are willing to fully co-operate with the investigation.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Time of India
Mumbai court finds prima facie evidence of tender manipulation in Mithi River desilting scam
Mumbai: In its detailed rejection order, the sessions court stated that prima facie evidence indicates Prashant Tayshete, along with other BMC officers, played a role in manipulating the tender terms and conditions to ensure the use of two specific machines for the Mithi River desilting work. While the anticipatory bail plea of the deputy chief engineer of the stormwater drains department (operation & maintenance) was rejected on Saturday in the Rs 65 crore scam, the detailed order was made available on Monday. The judge further said that the terms and conditions were prepared in a manner to give an advantage to Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd at such a rate that caused wrongful loss to BMC. "It is an economic offence involving public money. Considering the nature of the offence, the post held by the applicant in the process of the project, and the wrongful loss of public money to the local body, the applicant is not entitled to the discretionary relief of anticipatory bail," Judge NG Shukla said. The judge, however, granted him interim protection from arrest for two weeks after he sought time to file an appeal in the Bombay High Court. Tayshete submitted that he was consistently employed within the solid waste management (SWM) department and held no responsibilities in the storm water drain (SWD) department. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo The judge, however, said this claim lacked documentary support. The judge further said that reports dated Nov 4 and 23, 2020, indicated his involvement or charge within the SWD department. The judge further noted that Tayshete, along with other BMC officers, visited Kerala and Delhi between Sept 25 and 28, 2020. While co-accused Prashant Ramagude, and he claimed to have paid for hotel bills in Kerala, flight tickets and hotel booking records indicate that these expenses were covered by Ketan Kadam, CEO of M/s Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, a company that subsequently leased machines to contractors at inflated rates. Crucially, at the time of this visit, the terms and conditions for using these specific machines in the desilting work had not yet been approved by higher BMC authorities. The fact that Ketan Kadam bore the expenses for the BMC officers' visit and stay prima facie suggested a "hand-in-glove" arrangement between the BMC officers and Ketan Kadam. This arrangement, the judge said, appeared to have been designed to insert specific terms and conditions for machine usage into the tenders, ensuring future benefits for Ketan Kadam and other contractors. "The criminal element of cheating lies here. It is unbelievable that the applicant, who was working as the officer of high rank, i.e., Executive Engineer, was not aware of who was bearing the expenses of their visits and stay at Delhi and Kerala," the judge said. The judge further observed that following the visit to Delhi and Kerala, three reports were submitted to incorporate specific terms and conditions into the tender for the use of specific machines, which were to be supplied by M/s Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. *Meanwhile, on Monday, the court granted the anticipatory bail pleas of Deepak Mohan (56) and Kishore Menon (54) of Matprop Company, who were also named in the case. Calling the allegations concocted, their plea said that with over 30 machines deployed to government and private agencies, the company has proven its expertise and reliability. It said that given a strong track record, including projects like the Parvathy-Puthanar rejuvenation, the current case is unwarranted. Implicating the reputable applicants risks severe reputational damage, harassment, and hardship, which would harm the company's goodwill and disrupt ongoing national projects, the plea said.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Mithi River desilting fraud: Court refuses pre-arrest bail to BMC officer Prashant Tayshete
MUMBAI: A special court on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Prashant Tayshete, one of the three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officers booked in connection with the alleged irregularities in executing contracts for desilting the Mithi River. The case involves alleged irregularities in executing contracts for desilting the Mithi River. (Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times) Special judge NG Shukla granted Tayshete, who works in the BMC's stormwater drains department, interim protection from arrest for two weeks to allow him to approach the high court for relief. It isn't clear why his anticipatory bail plea was rejected, as the detailed court order is not yet available. Tayshete was one of the 13 people and entities named in the FIR registered by the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for allegedly causing a loss of ₹ 65.54 crore to the BMC while executing contracts to desilt the Mithi River between 2013 and 2023. According to the EOW, Tayshete and two other accused BMC officers allegedly tailored the tender for the desilting contracts to benefit Kochi-based Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd, resulting in the company's monopoly over the contracts. When the BMC's contractors approached Matprop for desilting equipment, they were directed to approach alleged intermediaries Jay Joshi and Ketan Kadam, according to the EOW. The duo, in connivance with senior Matprop executives, allegedly rented the machines at inflated rates. The accused also allegedly fudged records to increase the amount of silt to be removed from the Mithi River to benefit certain contractors and the rates they were supposed to be paid. Tayshete had moved the court seeking protection from arrest on May 19. His counsel, advocate Vaibhav Punekar, submitted that Tayshete looked after stormwater drainage and was only involved in desilting a minor portion of the river, along with transporting the sludge removed for disposal. Punekar also told the court that Tayshete had no knowledge about the alleged fraud related to renting desilting machines. During his visit to Kerala, he was only tasked with machine demonstration work and submitted a report regarding that, Tayshete claimed in his plea. He was not connected with any forged memorandums of understanding and has not received any money related to the concerned work, the plea said. Requesting pre-arrest bail, Tayshete's lawyer argued that his client was a retired BMC officer who cannot influence any witnesses and tamper with any documents. He added that no case of cheating, forgery or conspiracy can be made out against him. Earlier this month, the court had granted bail to Joshi, saying there is no evidence to show that he was an alleged intermediary involved in compelling contractors to hire machines at inflated rates.
