Income Tax raids at Lilavati Hospital

Income Tax department sleuths on Monday conducted raids at the high-profile Lilavati Hospital here on charges of financial irregularities.

Searches are continuing at the finance, purchase, biomedical and pharma departments of the Lilavati Trust Hospital.

Computers have been seized and in-charges of these departments are being questioned about their account books.

Parallel search operations are also on at the premises of Mayfair Realtors and Vesta Infrastructures.

Mayfair Realtors and Vesta Infrastructures had loaned Rs 14 crore to the Lilavati Trust in 2002.

The raids are being conducted on the basis of a Supreme Court direction for probe into allegations of money laundering by the trustees of Lilavati Hospital.

The apex court had issued notices to Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Securities and Exchange Board of India and Central Government on a petition seeking criminal proceedings against the trustees of Lilavati Hospital.

The petition, filed by Delhi resident Harsh Raghuvanshi, sought investigation into the alleged siphoning of funds by hospital trustees Prabodh Mehta, Rashmi Mehta, Chetan Mehta and Bhavin Mehta.

It has been alleged that the Mehtas have siphoned out money from the hospital and through the hawala route it has been deposited in banks abroad including Mauritius.

The hospital, worth an estimated Rs7 billion, is frequented by high-profile stars and leaders.