Mumbai: Bollywood actor Dino Morea appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second time on Thursday in connection with the ongoing money laundering investigation related to the multi-crore Mithi River desilting scam. He arrived at the ED’s Ballard Estate office accompanied by his brother, Santino Morea.

The questioning session lasted over three hours. The duo were summoned in connection to financial transactions allegedly linked to Ketan Kadam, a key accused in the case.

Officials familiar with the probe said Dino Morea’s statement is being recorded regarding certain cross-border transactions allegedly facilitated by Kadam. During the examination of Kadam’s phone, investigators reportedly found chat messages in which Morea instructed him to transfer Rs 50 lakh worth of Dirhams to a Dubai-based woman, believed to be a close friend of one of Morea’s personal associates.

The ED suspects that the funds were transferred via underground hawala channels, a commonly used method to move unaccounted money across borders without triggering banking red flags. A torn Dirham currency note was allegedly used as a unique identifier to confirm the transaction, a modus operandi familiar to hawala networks. According to sources, a hawala operator shared the image of the torn Dirham currency note via WhatsApp, which Kadam then forwarded to Morea. Subsequently, Morea sent the same image to the woman in Dubai, enabling her to claim the cash locally from hawala agents.

Official sources confirm that the agency is still verifying the source of the funds and whether they are linked to proceeds of crime(PoC) generated from the Mithi River desilting scam. However, they also clarified that Dino Morea has not been named as an accused in the case and is not directly implicated as of now.

Santino Morea

This was the second time the Morea brothers have appeared before the ED in the case. On June 12, both Morea brothers were questioned about a series of financial transactions with Kadam. Investigators have flagged five to seven such transactions, collectively amounting to Rs 18 lakh, between Dino Morea, Santino Morea, and Kadam.These entries are currently under scrutiny as the agency attempts to map out the financial trail.