1,150 people involved in scam, 856 absconding, including GB Rai

KATHMANDU, July 5: A special parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the misappropriation of cooperative funds has said that 1,150 people are involved in cooperative fraud.

After the meeting of the committee on Friday, Surya Thapa, coordinator of the committee, informed media persons that there are 1150 people accused of being involved in the cooperative fraud cases while 55,410 victims have filed complaints with the government bodies. 

Thapa said that police have arrested 294 individuals on charges of embezzling the funds of cooperatives while 856 people are still on the absconding list.

The committee discussed about the misappropriation of cooperative funds with the Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), Ek Narayan Aryal, Inspector General of Police Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, head of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Shyam Gyawali, and Chief of the Nepal Police's Department of Crime Investigation, Tek Bahadur Tamang.

Likewise, the committee confirmed that 55,410 victims have filed complaints against 503 cooperatives involved in misappropriation of depositors’ funds while the victims have demanded a compensation of Rs 11.664 billion.

Informing  mediapersons, Thapa said that the maximum 5,648 complaints have been registered in Kathmandu alone.

Coordinator Thapa said that during their analysis of the complaints, they found that 5,648 individuals were defrauded by 40 cooperatives in Kathmandu. 

Parliamentary committee criticizes govt for neglecting efforts to extradite cooperative fraud fugitives

The parliamentary committee investigating the misappropriation of cooperative savings, chaired by Surya Thapa, has concluded that the government has failed to prioritize the extradition of fugitives involved in cooperative fraud, including GB Rai.

Thapa said that the investigation is also focused on other key figures involved in cooperative fraud cases, including Bharat Maharjan, Kumar Ramtel, Dev Kumar Nepali, Subas KC, and Roshni Gurung. The committee acknowledged the current procedural challenges in reclaiming depositors’ funds and plans to hold discussions with the Nepal Rastra Bank and the banking sector in the next meeting.