LoC stops IAS officer under ED lens in Covid hosp scam from flying to Lanka

MUMBAI: Senior IAS officer and Mhada CEO Sanjeev Jaiswal was stopped from flying to Sri Lanka from the city airport late last week based on a lookout circular (LoC) issued against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case connected to the Covid field hospital scam.
It is learnt that Jaiswal had planned a two-day personal visit to Colombo with government permission but was not allowed to board the flight.If someone under the ED scanner wants to go abroad, they need to take an NOC from the ED, said a source.
"Well, I am not aware if any LoC has been issued. I have been going to the office every day. As regards wanting to go abroad, I can always do so with official permission...," said Jaiswal, adding that he was in Ujjain (MP) to visit the Mahakaleshwar temple last weekend.
The ED is probing if Jaiswal, posted as additional municipal commissioner in the BMC in 2020, had gained after allegedly favouring Lifeline Hospital Management Services (LHMS) to get the Dahisar Covid field hospital contract during the pandemic.
Last month, the ED had searched Jaiswal's premises and found he and his wife owned 24 properties worth Rs 34 crore and held Rs 15 crore in FDs. Jaiswal said most of his family properties were inherited by his wife from her father (retired IRS officer), mother and grandparents. He claimed that the FDs were gifted to his wife by her parents. Of them, a Rs 5-crore FD was created in 2020 when Jaiswal was with the BMC, claimed ED sources.
It is alleged that the BMC, on the direction of Jaiswal and his seniors, allotted work to LHMS to manage the field hospital at Dahisar. The civic body released Rs 30 crore to LHMS, but only Rs 8 crore was used for the work. The LHMS diverted the remaining Rs 22 crore into shell companies and various other firms' accounts. The ED claims to have established the money trail.
The LHMS was formed by Sujit Patkar, close friend of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in 2020 and within a month it bagged the contract for the field hospital despite not having any experience.
The ED's money laundering case was based on an FIR filed at Azad Maidan police station and subsequently, the agency decided to investigate the Rs 4,000-crore spending by BMC on Covid-related work during the pandemic. The roles of several BMC officials are under the ED scanner.