Prashant Mehta, permanent trustee of Lilavati Hospital, held a news conference on Tuesday, April 30, to discuss the financial embezzlement at Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre in Bandra. Mehta said that the former trustee committed a Rs 500 crore medical fraud at the institution. This incident was one of the biggest medical scams of the century, according to Mehta.

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As per the Supreme Court judgement of September 18, 2023, the newly formed board undertook a detailed audit of legal and consultancy expenses. The audit found that Rs 100 crore had been wasted on attorneys and consultants. “A forensic audit found that Rs 200 crore was misappropriated from a charity fund by the previous board. He used this money to pay lawyers and consultants for personal legal issues, which is not allowed. Executive vice-chairman Ajay Pandey and his chief advisor Lakshmi Narayanan admitted to misusing funds for legal fees and showed evidence to the charity commissioner," Mehta said during the press conference.

"Approximately Rs 10.75 crore has been spent on legal expenses of lawyers Sushaali Mehta and Amol Inamdar despite the courts being closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.

Prashant Mehta further said, "The former unauthorised board made illegal and misappropriated contributions to the newly established Madhulakshmi Trust, which was in existence for less than a year after the donation was made. More than Rs 6 crore was diverted to the trust by the illegal board. Huge amounts of money were transferred. This reveals that the previous trustees were not only engaged in illegal financial activities but also personally benefited from them."

How was the scame committed?

Prashant Mehta said that Vijay Mehta and Nickel Mehta through M/s Vesta and M/S Mayfair Realtors Pvt used to send money to purchase medical equipment. However, these companies were fake. Despite spending Rs 15 crore, the hospital did not receive any medical equipment. This means that the aim of Niket Mehta and his father Vijay Mehta was to grab the trust money.

Niket Mehta was accused

"Kishor Mehta and Charu Mehta in connection with this transaction, Niket Mehta falsely claimed that properties in Mahim and Lonavala were recovered as compensation for the misappropriated funds. However, it was later revealed that Niket Mehta unilaterally sold these properties for his own benefit,” Mehta said.

Furthermore, illegal trustees have broken into the safe of the trust property in Palanpur, Gujarat and stolen the trust property for the construction of an additional hospital. A criminal complaint of theft has been filed in Gujarat court and is currently awaiting verdict. The former board members have defrauded the hospital through various transactions, resulting in a loss of over Rs 500 crore. 

Prashant Mehta said, we are trying to provide quality medical services to the patients through Lilavati Hospital. For this, we have started the campaign of Seva Shibir, Roshni Shibir and Free Medical Checkup Shibir. Many people stay away from treatment due to poor financial condition. If treatment is not done in time, the disease can take a serious form. Therefore, our main objective is to provide best medical services to all patients at no cost.