KATHMANDU, Feb 7: The Chitwan District Court has ordered the release of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane on bail of Rs 5.4 million in connection with the Chitwan-based Sahara Cooperative fraud case. The court issued the order after recording the statements of the accused and concluding the pre-trial detention hearing, held since Wednesday.
A single bench of Judge Daya Ram Dhakal ordered his release on a bail of Rs 5.4 million on Thursday.
Lamichhane appeared in court on Wednesday to give a statement in the cooperative fraud case. The court handed him over to the police on Wednesday after his detention hearing could not conclude the same day. Although cases of organized crime have been registered against Lamichhane in Kaski, Kathmandu and Rupandehi districts, he faces only a case of fraud at the Chitwan District Court.
Chitwan District Court orders release of Lamichhane on Rs 5.4 m...
On February 4, the District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO) in Chitwan registered a case against Lamichhane, 15 other individuals, and six organizations on charges of embezzling funds from the cooperative and defrauding them. An investigation report of the District Police Office, Chitwan, mentions that the accused individuals embezzled a total of Rs 389.79 million from Sahara Cooperative.
Lamichhane was detained on October 18 from the party’s central office in Kathmandu for his involvement in embezzlement of funds of Suryadarshan Cooperative. After being remanded in judicial custody for 84 days, he faced charges of organized crime, cooperative fraud and money laundering in a first of many cases filed at the Kaski District Court. The District Government Attorney's Office, Kaski, filed a case in the District Court on December 22 with the claim that he was involved in the embezzlement of Rs 33.7 million from the cooperative. The District Court ordered his release on a bail of Rs 6.5 million on January 9.
On January 5, a case was filed against 39 people, including Lamichhane, on charges of defrauding depositors of Kathmandu-based Swarnalaxmi Cooperative of Rs 1.19 billion. The DGAO, KAthmandu claimed that money had been taken from the cooperative even to purchase a vehicle in Lamichhane's name. The district court had ordered Lamichhane to be released on bail of Rs 6 million on January 15.
After Kathmandu, a charge sheet was filed against Lamichhane and 21 others in Rupandehi on January 19, alleging them of embezzling the funds of Supreme Cooperative, with a claim of Rs 555.9 million in fraud. The DGAO, Rupandehi had claimed that Lamcihhane alone had embezzled Rs 20 million.
On January 26, the court ordered his release on a bail of Rs 10 million.
Lamichhane, along with his partners Chabilal Joshi and GB Rai – who is currently absconding – is accused of embezzling funds from five cooperatives across the country. He is facing multiple court cases for his alleged role in misappropriation of cooperatives’ funds.
