Mumbai Scam Trail surfaces on Goa beaches

MUMBAI SCAM TRAIL surfaces on Goa beaches  

Herald Review July 27, 2014 

Mohammad Fasih, chairman and managing director of the Showman Group, who was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in Mumbai for his involvement in a multicrore fixed deposits scam revealed during investigations that he invested part of the scam money in hotels and shack businesses in Goa.


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 

Illegalities continue to flourish in the State thanks to lax authorities and often with their blessings. Recently Mohammad Fasih, chairman and managing director of the Showman Group was taken into custody by the Economics Offences Wing ( EOW) of the Mumbai Crime Branch for siphoning off crores of rupees belonging to the South Indian Education Society Trust ( SIES) and government bodies namely the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority ( MMRDA), the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation ( MTDC) and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee ( APMC).

It is alleged that the Andheri businessman fraudulently made around Rs 300 crore of which RS 150 cr was made by siphoning off money from FD accounts of MMRDA, MTDC and APMC. SIES was duped to the extent of Rs 58 cr. Fasih during questioning revealed that he had invested part of the scam money in his hotel business in Goa.

Fasih’s Showman Hospitality Pvt Ltd is a stakeholder in Our Shack in Little Vagator, Blue Waves and Morjim Bay in Morjim, Sheesh Mahal Lounge in Margao, according to the Showman Hospitality Website.

Of these Blue Waves in Morjim and Our Shack on Ozran beach have been built in gross violations of CRZ with demolition notices issued to them.

But that’s as far as the authorities in Goa have gone. Demolition notices for CRZ violations have become nothing more than a piece of paper in the tourist belt.

Herald Review had reported about Our Shack’s illegalities in March this year. The Anjuna panchayat sent notices to the owners in November 2012 and again in December. In April 2013 the panchayat sent a requisition for demolition squad to the BDO. The BDO kept the matter hanging, and five months later in their reply asked the panchayat to put the file in order and resubmit the documents.

The demolition squad finally showed up at the premises on December 13, 2013 with the PI Anjuna police station, executive engineer, Bardez mamlatdar and BDO extension officer. But no demolition was carried out. Dashrath Gawas mamlatdar ( Bardez) had said that the permanent structures required JCBs, cutters and 30 labourers. “ Our talathi is preparing a report and we will be demolishing it soon.” The people who run Our Shack rented the property from Robert Coutinho who holds the power of attorney of the land which belongs to Antonio D’Souza. The problem began, had told this paper, when their silent partner ( Fasih) decided to give the property a makeover.

Seven months after the demolition squad visited the site, the shack which boasts of a bar, lounge area, dance floor, restaurant and hill side lodges still stands, though it hasn’t been running during the monsoon.

“ The panchayat is not a technical body. As per procedure the BDO should have come and inspected the site and found out what machinery was required to demolish the structure,” one panchayat member said.

The panchayat has been facing a tough time with their secretary being transferred every few months. In the last two years the panchayat has seen six secretaries. Their most recent secretary holds additional charge and this hampers the work of the panchayat. The panchayat has written to the Chief Minister, minister for panchayats ( who hails from Mandrem), and the director of panchayats asking them to stop transferring their secretaries.

The most recent letter was dated July 7 this year and states that the panchayat is a class A panchayat with a population of more than 10,000 and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with mounting problems of garbage, illegal constructions, CRZ violations, development related work with “ Our administration has almost collapsed. Each new secretary that comes is a confused man and has to start from scratch. It is very suspicious how this is happening so often.

Whose interests are being protected? If a secretary is not competent then the DOP should terminate their services, not transfer them,” the panchayat member stated.

A panchayat secretary further has election duties, census work, meetings before the BDO and court matters to attend to that he is left with precious little time to devote to the pressing needs of the panchayat like going for inspections etc.

Blue Waves which CRZ officials have termed the ‘ mother of all CRZ violations’ is a ground plus one structure with 21 concrete pillars and marble flooring. They were also sent a demolition notice but approached the Green Tribunal in Delhi last year.

DCP Mahesh Patil, official spokesperson of Mumbai Police told Herald Review that Fasih is the prime accused and has six different cases against him each involving crores of rupees. He has been taken into custody and the CBI has recently begun investigating one of the cases. It has not emerged yet which of his hotels in Goa Fasih has invested the scam money in. Review Bureau