EOW FIR says Kishori Pednekar part of Rs 50 lakh covid body bag scam, ED likely to initiate new money laundering case

It is alleged that each body bag worth Rs 1500 was purchased for a whopping Rs 6,700 and that funds worth crores of rupees were siphoned

Trouble has mounted for former Mumbai Mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar after a case was registered against her by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) over charges of corruption. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly obtained details and documents from the Mumbai Police pertaining to the irregularities in the purchase of body bags and other medical supplies during COVID.

A case was registered on 5th August by the EOW of the Mumbai police against Pednekar and two civic officials after a complaint was filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya in July. The case was filed under several Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections including 420 (cheating) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), breach of trust by government officials for purchasing body bags at inflated rates amounting to Rs 50 lakh from Vendanta Innotech Pvt Ltd.

Somaiya has alleged that each body bag worth Rs 1500 was purchased for a whopping Rs 6,700 and that funds worth crores of rupees were siphoned. One of the civic officials booked is senior IAS officer P Velarasu.

COVID Ghotala 'Body Bag' Scam by Uddhav Thackeray Sena Leader Kishori Pednekar Vedant Innotech₹1500 of Dead Body Bag bought at ₹6,700.Mumbai Police registered FIR registered against Kishori Pednekar & AMCearlier ED had conducted raids.We filed complaint on 13 July pic.twitter.com/O94F2yCZoi

The ED has now sought information about the crime cases filed against Pednekar from the EOW. ED could likely initiate a fresh money-laundering case linked to the Covid jumbo centre scam. According to the EOW FIR, BMV officials bought 1,200 body bags since 2020 for about Rs 80 lakh, a fraud committed under instructions from the former mayor.

The central agency suspects that huge kickbacks from Vedanta might have been received by the accused as BMC hospitals procured the body bags regularly at low costs. In the first two Expression of Interest (EOI) floated by the BMC, Vedanta emerged as the sole eligible vendor but a fresh tender was floated for EOI-3 in which two bidders qualified.

One was Care One Solutions which initially quoted Rs 2,610 per bag and later settled for Rs 2,583, and the second was Vedanta which initially quoted R3,939 and settled for R2,610. It is alleged that Pednekar summoned Haridas Rathod, then deputy dean of the BMC central purchase department to her residence and instructed him to award work to Vedanta.

The Covid Jumbo Centre scam included the listing of fake doctors, and also fake patients in order to source funds from the BMC. The total estimate of the scam amounts to Rs 4,000 crore involving other contractors besides Lifeline Hospital Management Services.

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