Unity´s eight promoters have been charged with selling fraudulent schemes, running a bank and carrying out banking and financial activities without seeking permission from the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank. [break]
The promoters along with eleven others associated with Unity, also face two more cases - fraud and running banking and financial activities without the permission of the central bank, said attorney Jaya Nanda Paneru.
The Office of Lalitpur District Attorney filed the cases after more than three weeks of investigation against the defendants and activities of Unity, whose fraudulent business came to the notice of the government through media reports.
Bhim Prasad Poudel, another prosecutor, said that Unity has been found turning the Madhyamanchal Gramin Bikash Bank into Unity Gramin Bank, something that can be done only after permission from the central bank.
The defendants facing the charges are Bhim Bahadur Gurung, Krishna Bahadur Chhetri, Bishnu Chhetri, Kashi Ram Gurung, Indra Bahadur BK, Ram Dev Yadav Dinesh Yadav and Bhupendra Bahadur Malla.
If convicted in the case, the defendants will face three years of jail term and fine amounting Rs 230 million rupees in total for as per Banking and Financial Institutions Act and the Nepal Rastra Bank Act.
Second case against them is selling fraud schemes to common people. The prosecutors have accused them of selling 44 attractive schemes without obtaining due permission from the central bank and swindling money amounting to Rs 53,774,818 in the scheme.
In this case also the prosecutors have sought three years jail for each defendant and fine three times the claimed amount. The claimed amount stands at Rs 53,774,818.
In addition, the defendants have been accused of selling insurance, carrying out banking activities through misleading publicity about their business. According to affidavits presented at the court, the accused collected US$ 5.66 million from its 366,342 members.
It was almost the end of the office hour when the Office of the District Attorney, Lalitpur filed the cases at the Lalitpur District Court so the court could not start collecting statements from each defendant presented at the court.
"The court will begin collecting statements from the defendants from Sunday," Dipak Raj Pant, the chief administrator of the court, told myrepublica.com.
Once the statements are collected, the court will hold a hearing on whether to grant bail to the accused. If the bail is rejected, the defendants will continue to remain in the jail until the cases are finalized.
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