The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at the premises of actor Dino Morea and some others in Maharashtra apart from some locations in Kerala as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the Mithi river desilting "scam", official sources said.

The fraud is alleged to have caused a Rs 65 crore loss to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The raids are covering more than 15 premises located in Mumbai and Kochi. This includes the premises of Morea, his brother, contractors and some others, the sources said.

The investigation is being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The ED case against certain officials of the BMC and some others stems from a Mumbai Police economic offences wing (EOW) FIR filed to probe alleged irregularities in desilting of the Mithi river that is alleged to have caused a Rs 65 crore loss to the civic body.

Morea was questioned by the EOW in this case few days back.

The EOW registered a case against 13 persons, including civic officials and contractors, for their alleged involvement in the scam.

The river flows through the city and drains into the Arabian Sea. It is alleged that tenders for renting specialised dredging equipment were manipulated to favour certain suppliers.