Actor Dino Morea has once again come under the scanner of the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in connection with the alleged Mithi River desilting scam. The actor was questioned by the agency after investigators reportedly found phone records indicating his contact with people linked to the case. Morea and his brother Santino Rocco Morea had also been questioned by the EOW in May 2025.According to a report published by Hindustan Times, an EOW officer said, “We summoned [Dino] Morea after investigators came across phone records indicating contact with some people linked to the case.”The investigation is also looking into the business links between the Morea family and those accused in the case. According to the report, Santino Rocco Morea and Punita Kadam, wife of arrested accused Ketan Kadam, were directors in UBO Ridez Private Limited. Investigators are examining financial transactions involving the Kadams and Santino, besides looking into how Ketan Kadam’s desilting company, Woder India LLP, secured civic contracts.Ketan Kadam was arrested on May 7 and is among the accused booked in the case. The EOW has alleged that the irregularities in the Mithi River desilting project caused the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) a loss of Rs 65.54 crore. The case involves allegations of financial irregularities, inflated tenders and corrupt practices.The agency has also arrested Jayesh Joshi, who is associated with Virgo Specialties Private Limited, a Mumbai-based industrial product manufacturer. Investigators are looking into the alleged role of middlemen and companies involved in supplying or renting specialised equipment for the desilting work.The EOW’s probe has also focused on the tendering process. According to investigators, some BMC officials travelled to Kochi in October 2020 to purchase desilting equipment from Matprop Technical Services Private Limited. Subsequently, tenders were floated for the desilting work with specifications that allegedly matched Matprop’s equipment, limiting the options available to contractors.The tender reportedly stated that contractors would be paid based on the weight of silt and dredged material removed from the river. According to the police investigation, contractors who approached Matprop to purchase the equipment were instead directed towards Joshi and Kadam. The agency has alleged that the equipment was then rented out at inflated rates.The EOW had constituted a Special Investigation Team in August 2024 after allegations of irregularities were raised in connection with the desilting of the 17.84-km-long Mithi River. The investigation subsequently expanded to examine the alleged financial transactions, tendering process and the role of civic officials, contractors and intermediaries.Investigators have also alleged that records related to the quantity of silt removed from the river were manipulated, which could have resulted in contractors being paid higher amounts.Dino Morea’s questioning is part of the ongoing probe, and the investigation is continuing to establish the nature of his alleged links, if any, with the accused and the financial transactions under scrutiny. The actor has not been accused or convicted of wrongdoing in the case merely by virtue of being questioned by the investigating agency.
