Issuing an order, the DRI has directed the general managers of Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Hotel Annapurna and Hotel Shangri-La to report at the DRI within 24 hours of issuance of the letter. [break]
Those being summoned are Bini Gupta of Soaltee, Dorjee Sherpa of Annapurna and Raju Bikram Shah of Shangri-la.
The three casinos being operated by Nepal Recreation Center (NRC) have outstanding dues worth Rs 205.8 million.
Of the total royalty due, casino Nepal of Soaltee owes Rs 99.3 million, Anna Rs 82.3 million and Shangri-La Rs 24.2 million.
“We have summoned the general managers of the respective hotels as we couldn´t recover the dues from the casinos,” Mahesh Dahal, director general of the DRI told Republica.
As per the condition stated in casino licenses, hotels are supposed to take responsible for the payment of royalties by their casinos.
Raju Bikram Shah of Hotel Shangri-La, however, claimed that the government had already recovered the dues from casinos.
The police had issued arrest warrant against three managers of casinos and NRC managing director Rakesh Wadwa last month for defaulting on payment of royalties.
Casino honcho arrested
Police arrested Harka Bahadur Aair, the general manager of Casino Shangri La, and handed him over to Revenue Investigation Department (IRD) on Sunday.
Aair became the first among the five casino honchos to fall in the police net two weeks after the IRD issued arrest warrants against them for allegedly not settling their tax liabilities. [break]
"We handed him over to the IRD immediately," said SP Ramesh Kharel, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. "We are hunting four others too and hope to nab them very soon."
A team of Metropolitan Police Sector Lainchour had nabbed Aair from Sorakhutte on Sunday morning.
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