KATHMANDU, Sept 17: A seven-member parliamentary special committee, formed to investigate the misuse of cooperative funds and chaired by CPN-UML lawmaker Surya Thapa, submitted its report to the House of Representatives on Monday. The report concluded that 40 cooperatives have embezzled a total of Rs 87 billion of their depositors’ money.

The committee formed on May 28 also identified the involvement of four office bearers of Gorkha Media Network in the misappropriation of Rs 650 million received from a cooperative. Those implicated by the parliamentary committee include the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and former Managing Director of Gorkha Media Rabi Lamichhane, along with Chairman Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai; the company’s director Chhabilal Joshi; and partner Kumar Ramtel.

The committee recommended government action against the individuals. 

After receiving the report from Chairman Thapa, Speaker Devraj Ghimire directed the parliament secretariat to submit the report to the government for implementation.

With Speaker Ghimire’s instructions to the government to implement the recommendations made by the committee, it is yet to unfold how the government will take action.

Spokesperson for the HoR, Ekram Giri, informed Republica that preparation to send the letter to the government for implementation is underway. “If it wasn’t for a public holiday today, the house would have sent the letter right away,” he said, “Under the circumstances, the house will now send the letter on Wednesday.”

Upon receiving the letter from the house, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers will present it to the Cabinet for discussion and finalization. The Cabinet will then decide on directing the relevant line ministry, Giri added.

According to Senior Advocate Tikaram Bhattarai, after discussion in the Cabinet, it will direct the Ministry of Home Affairs to proceed with further actions. “The Home Ministry will then instruct the police administration to conduct the investigation. The police may handle the investigation themselves or assign it to the CIB. The investigation by the police or CIB will determine what charges are necessary,” Bhattarai said, “After this, the matter will be discussed with the Attorney General’s office, and then the case will proceed to court. Only after following all the due processes can the matter proceed to court,” Bhattarai added.

He mentioned that based on the nature of the incident, it appears that those recommended for disciplinary action will likely face charges related to cooperative fraud. These matters are explained under the Cooperative Act, 2074, he said.

The report mentions that Gorkha Media, where Lamichhane was the MD, had obtained funds from Surya Darshan Savings and Credit Cooperative, Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative, Sahara Chitwan Multipurpose Cooperative, Swarnalaxmi Multipurpose Cooperative, and Sano Paila Savings and Credit Cooperative.

According to the report, Lamichhane has committed at least eight serious offenses including unlawfully deploying cooperative funds into the company, failing to inquire about or record the legal source of such a large amount of money, providing false information in audit reports, claiming non-existent sweat equity without any legal documentation. 

Similarly, the offenses include engaging in share transactions with fake transactions at the company registrar's office, leading the company into mismanagement, evading taxes through fraudulent transactions, and attempting to evade responsibility by claiming ignorance.

The parliamentary committee reached this conclusion after conducting an investigation for three and a half months. Initially, the House had set a timeframe of three months, but on September 3, Chairman Thapa requested an additional 15-day extension, which the House approved.