Actor Dino Morea Arrives At Mumbai ED Office After Being Summoned In Mithi River Case

The probe focuses on alleged rigged tenders and fraudulent bills related to the river's clean-up, with scrutiny on financial transactions .

Actor Dino Morea on Thursday arrived at the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai in connection to the Mithi river desilting case. 

The enforcement agency had summoned the 49-year-old actor over the Rs 65-crore case, under the scanner of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

On June 6, ED officials launched a series of coordinated raids across more than 15 locations in Mumbai and Kochi. Morea’s residence in Bandra (West), properties linked to his brother Santino Morea, and offices of several Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials and contractors were among the places searched by the federal agency. 

Investigators have been tracing the money trail in what is suspected to be a major case of financial fraud. One focal point of the inquiry is Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based firm that supplied desilting equipment to the BMC during the river clean-up operation. The ED is examining whether these deals were manipulated for personal or political gain.

Mithi River Desilting Case 

The ED’s investigation stems from an FIR filed by Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in May. The complaint named 13 individuals, including civic officials and contractors, accusing them of rigging tenders issued between 2017 and 2023 for the Mithi River desilting project. The river, which serves as a vital stormwater drain for the city, became the focus of clean-up efforts following the devastating 2005 floods that crippled Mumbai.

According to the FIR, the tenders were allegedly customised to benefit a specific supplier, allowing contractors to submit fraudulent bills for transporting silt and sludge out of Mumbai — a process that may never have occurred.

Dino, Santino Questioned 

Both Dino and his brother Santino had earlier been questioned by the Mumbai Police in connection with the same case. Their alleged association with Ketan Kadam, an accused middleman currently under arrest, has come under scrutiny. Kadam and Jai Joshi, another arrested suspect, are believed to have facilitated the renting of specialized machinery—such as silt pushers and amphibious pontoon machines—used in the desilting operations.

Investigators are also examining financial transactions linked to a company reportedly associated with Santino Morea, raising questions about the possible flow of illicit funds.

This isn’t Dino Morea’s first brush with the ED. In 2021, the agency attached some of his assets as part of a money laundering probe tied to a separate case involving Sterling Biotech, a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company accused of bank fraud.