Lilavati snaps back at UBI for account freezing threat

The high-profile Lilavati Hospital on Friday rubbished reports of money laundering by its trustees, snapping back at the the Union Bank of India (UBI) for reportedly considering freezing its accounts.

Slapping a legal notice onto the public sector bank, Lilavati Managing and Permanent Trustee Niket Mehta hit out at UBI for not notifying that it was contemplating on freezing its accounts. He said that it was through media reports that he had learnt of the bank?s threat.

Mehta also threatened to pass on any claims or liabilities generated by the patients or their insurance companies caused due to ?sabotaging? of the hospital?s operations onto UBI.

Earlier on Friday, media reports said that the UBI may freeze all accounts of the Lilavati Hospital over alleged money laundering by its trustees. The bank was said to have already sealed Lilavati Hospital Trust?s fixed deposits.

UBI has given a week?s time to Lilavati Hospital to file a fresh joint mandate to begin operations again, reports said.

On Apr 12, the Income Tax (I-T) department raided Lilavati Hospital here for the second consecutive day on charges of financial irregularities.

According to hospital sources, I-T officials conducted raids at Lilavati and quizzed its four of its 11 trustees.

The Bandra hospital is governed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust.

On Apr 11, the I-T department raided Lilavati Hospital and conducted searches at its finance, purchase, biomedical and pharma departments.

Computers were seized and in-charges of these departments were questioned about their account books.

Parallel search operations were also carried out 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.