Aaditya Thackeray’s close aide Suraj Chavan quizzed for 8 hours by ED in COVID-19 centres scam case

Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary Suraj Chavan on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which questioned him for more than eight hours in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged COVID-19 centres scam, an official said.

Chavan entered the ED office in south Mumbai at around 12.30 pm and came out at about 9 pm, the official said. He was summoned by the ED to record his statement after the federal agency raided 15 locations in Mumbai on June 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged COVID-19 centres scam against businessman Sujit Patkar, believed to be a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.

The ED recovered jewellery worth Rs 2.4 crore and Rs 68 lakh during the raid, an official had said earlier. Patkar and his three partners allegedly bagged Mumbai civic body’s contracts fraudulently for managing COVID-19 field hospitals during the pandemic, the official said.

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