MUMBAI: Prashant Mehta (53), a trustee of the Lilavati Medical trust, has filed a case against seven board members for allegedly misappropriating funds amounting to Rs 11.50 crores. The case was registered at the Bandra police station on July 7 after Mehta discovered discrepancies in the funds that were withdrawn for purchasing various medical equipment but were never actually bought.
Mehta, who has been a trustee of the trust fund and the Lilavati Hospital since 2023, began examining the past financial transactions of the trust.He found that a board member who owns Mayfair Realtors Pvt Ltd and Vesta India Pvt Ltd was among the seven involved in the fraud. “So far no arrest has been made. Probe is on,” said a police officer of the Bandra police station.
During his inspection of the trust’s bank account documents, Mehta discovered that in August 2001, a sum of Rs 2.30 crores had been deposited in the account of Mayfair Realtors Pvt Ltd and was not returned to the trust fund. There was no record of how the money was utilized. Further investigation revealed that the money was returned to another trust member within six days but was not deposited into the trust’s account.
Between 2002 and 2003, the trust member had deposited Rs 14.22 crores to the owner of Vesta Pvt Ltd for some hospital equipment. Out of that amount, Rs 9.22 crores was returned, but some of that money was not deposited into the trust’s account, and no equipment was found to have been purchased for the hospital. Mehta stated that he would conduct a forensic audit and submit the report to the police. According to the FIR, Mehta mentioned that the six accused had given Rs 16.52 crores to the owner of Vesta Pvt Ltd and Mayfair Realtors Pvt Ltd, out of which Rs 11.50 crores was not returned to the trust fund.