Royal property

Nepal Trust Office (NTO), a state-body that is responsible for identifying royal properties and managing it, has come up with a claim that former king Gyanendra Shah transferred millions of rupees into a foreign bank account in 2003. It has categorically said that the former king transferred British Pound 108, 854, belonging to late King Birendra and his family, from Standard Chartered Bank in Kathmandu to an unknown British Bank on March 12, 2003. The Trust officials also claimed that the Prime Minister’s Office recently wrote a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to track the illegal transfer of the money. Since the Trust has come up with the name of the local bank from which the money was transferred, the transferred amount and the date, the claim appears very credible.



This claim should also be seen in the context of Gyanendra Shah’s public assertions that he has no movable or immovable property abroad. Addressing a press conference on June 11, 2008, the day he vacated Narayanhiti Royal Palace, he said, “I have also heard false rumors about allegations that I have property abroad. All my property is in Nepal. I have no movable or immovable property in foreign lands.” He also made the following claim: “During the last seven years neither have I added to any property nor have I taken any actions by which the traditional property of any members of the royal family [changed hands].”



There have been several reports and rumors doing rounds in Kathmandu about the foreign bank accounts of the former royalties. One such report claimed that the deposits of Nepalis in the Swiss Bank have grown to over seven billion rupees, out of which over two billion rupees was deposited in 2006 alone. But these reports/rumors are nothing new. Even during the Panchayat era, the period of absolute monarchy, Nepalis were regularly fed with the stories of Shah Kings and their families stashing millions in foreign banks. It’s another thing that no one could raise these issues in public then nor did Nepalis have any access or capacity to probe into these allegations.



The monarchy is gone and the Republic is slowly gaining its foothold. But it’s unfortunate that even now, Nepalis are hearing the same old stories and they are left wondering, as in the past, about the authenticity of these stories. It’s the responsibility of the state to investigate into the alleged foreign bank accounts of the former royalties and bring the truth before the people. Gyanendra Shah also has a responsibility here: He should publicly respond to the categorical allegations of the Trust and come clean on the issue of transfer of the money to the British Bank.

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