3 Former Trustees of Lilavati Hospital booked for Rs 85 crore fraud

Mumbai: An FIR has been registered against the former trustees of the Lilavati Hospital for allegedly embezzling Rs 85 crore from the trust. The complaint was filed by current trustee Mohit Suresh Mathur, according to police officials.

Between 2000 and 2023, "purported trustees" Chetan Vijay Mehta, Rashmi Mehta and Bhavin Mehta allegedly seized control of the trust using fake documents, the complainant claimed.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the former members of the Lilavati Hospital Trust have been booked by the Bandra Police for alleged financial misappropriation of funds worth Rs 11.52 crores. Rashmi Mehta, Niket Mehta, Sushila Mehta, Bhavin Mehta, Chetan Mehta, Suresh Motwani, and other unidentified were booked based on the complaint lodged against them by a trustee of Lilavati, Prashant Mehta.

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Money was withdrawn in the name of lawyers' fees, consultation charges and purchase of medicines and allegedly used for personal use, the complaint said. Mathur had moved a magistrate's court, seeking a direction to police to register an FIR. On the court's order, the FIR was registered for cheating and criminal breach of trust under relevant Indian Penal Code sections (as alleged offences took place prior to 2024), the police official said, adding that probe was underway. Comments from the hospital spokesperson as well as the persons named in the FIR were awaited, news agency PTI reported.

As per a media report in the Free Press Journal, Another trustee, Prashant Mehta, stated, "I am a permanent trustee of the organisation. The group led by Chetan Mehta illegally utilised more than Rs.100 crore of the trust's funds for legal fees and other unauthorised expenses. After the appointment of new committee members, we conducted a forensic audit and uncovered these irregularities.

The accused created bogus bills, and the forensic report confirmed these findings. We then approached the Magistrate Court, which ordered the filing of this case."

Speaking to FPJ, Chetan Mehta said, "I do not know what is happening. I am still trying to find out," before disconnecting the call. The police have registered the case under Sections 34 (common intention), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), and 467 (forgery of valuable security) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police were likely to issue a notice to the accused and ask them to join the probe, said the official.

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