Aaditya Thackeray’s close aide Suraj Chavan appears before ED in Mumbai COVID centres scam case

Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary Suraj Chavan on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigating a money laundering link in the alleged COVID centres scam to record his statement, an official said.

Chavan reached the ED office in south Mumbai at around 12.30 pm, the official said.He was summoned by the ED to record his statement after the federal agency raided 15 locations in Mumbai on July 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged Covid centres scam against businessman Sujit Patkar, believed to be a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.

Chavan identifies himself as a secretary of Shiv Sena and a core committee member of Yuva Sena on his social media handle. Raids were also conducted at the residence of Chavan and the locations of some officials of Mumbai civic body and others, including IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal, officials had said. The ED recovered jewellery worth Rs 2.4 crore and Rs 68 lakh during the raid, an official had said earlier.

As per the FIR, the hospital management firm partners in June 2020 submitted an alleged fake partnership deed to the BMC and obtained contracts for jumbo COVID-19 centres at NSEL, Worli, Mulund, Dahisar (in Mumbai) and Pune without having any experience in the medical field.