The agency conducted raids in more than 15 premises across Mumbai and Kochi. These included the actor's residence in Bandra as well as premises linked to his brother Santino, BMC officials, contractors, and others, said sources
Actor Dino Morea. File Photo.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at actor Dino Morea's house as well as in the premises of some Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, contractors, and others as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 65 crore Mithi river desilting "scam", official sources said.
According to PTI, the raids covered more than 15 premises across Mumbai, Maharashtra, and Kochi in Kerala.
These included the actor's residence in Bandra (West) as well as premises linked to his brother Santino, BMC officials, contractors, and others, the sources added.
Searches were also conducted in Kochi, as one of the companies that supplied desilting equipment to BMC — Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd — is based in the city.
The investigation into the Mithi River desilting scam is being carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED case is based on an FIR registered by the Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in May against 13 individuals, including contractors and civic officials, for an alleged Rs 65.54 crore scam involving tenders awarded between 2017 and 2023 for desilting the Mithi river, which flows through Mumbai and serves as a key stormwater drainage channel for the city.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena controlled the cash-rich BMC from 1997 until the party split in 2022. Following the expiry of the general body in 2022, the civic body came under the control of the state government, then headed by Eknath Shinde, reported PTI.
The police complaint alleged that BMC officials designed the desilting tenders to favour a particular supplier of machinery. Contractors allegedly generated fraudulent bills for transporting sludge out of Mumbai.
Dino Morea and his brother were questioned by the Mumbai Police EOW last month in connection with the case. The 49-year-old actor has reportedly been questioned twice.
The Morea brothers were questioned about their alleged links with accused middleman Ketan Kadam — who was arrested in the case along with Jai Joshi — and about financial transactions involving a company linked to Santino.
According to PTI, Kadam and Joshi were allegedly involved in renting out 'silt pusher' machines and multi-purpose amphibious pontoon machines to contractors engaged in the Mithi river desilting operations.
This is the second time the actor has come under the ED’s scrutiny. In 2021, the agency had attached his assets in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank fraud case involving Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm Sterling Biotech and its promoters.
The plan to desilt the Mithi river was launched by Mumbai’s civic authorities following the devastating 2005 floods, which had brought the city to a standstill.
(With inputs from PTI)
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