Mithi River desilting: ED summons actor Dino Morea; freezes Rs 1.25-cr worth deposits, cash

At least eight people, including actor Dino Morea, his brother and some BMC officials, have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning next week in a money laundering case linked to an alleged Rs 65 crore Mithi River desilting “scam”, official sources said on Saturday.

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The federal agency, in a statement, said that it has frozen and seized cash and deposits worth about Rs 1.25 after conducting searches at 18 locations in Mumbai in Maharashtra and Kochi and Thrissur in Kerala on Friday.

The sources said around eight to nine people, including actor Dino Morea, his brother Santino Roceo Morea, some Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials and contractors, have been asked to appear before the agency in Mumbai on different dates next week. Their statements will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) once they depose, they said.

The ED said the raids covered the office and residential premises linked to BMC engineer Prashant Ramgude, contractor Bhupendra Purohit, Kerala-based company Matprop Technical Service Pvt Ltd., director of Vingo Specialities Pvt. Ltd. Jay Joshi, controller of Woder India LLP Ketan Kadam, Dino Morea's house in Bandra (West) area of Mumbai and that of his brother Santino.

The agency called the Morea brothers "close associates" of Kadam, an arrested alleged middleman in the case.