Continue with Google
KATHMANDU, June 9: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed corruption cases against 18 people, including Sangita Pahadi, Managing Director (MD) of Nepal Telecom (NT).
The anti-graft body filed the case against the accused alleging misappropriation in NT's process of extending the contract billing system and maintenance fees. In this case, the CIAA has sought to recover a total of Rs 334.8 million from the accused.
Pahadi was appointed as the chief of the NT in mid-September last year. Likewise, Nepal Telecom's technical chief Pratibha Shrestha has also been named as an accused in the case.
CIAA files corruption case against 18, including Nepal Telecom...
Other defendants include Sunil Paudel, Hemprabha Rampratap Karna, Nawal Chaudhary, Rajendra Shrestha, Dhavindra Lal Upadhyay, Devendra Khatiwada, Binita Shrestha as well as Amul Pradhan. Likewise, Rajiv Kumar KC, Mukti Prasad Aryal, Shankar Kumar Shrestha, Paramatma Bhattarai, and Shailesh Shrestha are also among the accused on the charge. Senior Director Long Yong and Manager Huang Ouyi of the Chinese Contractor Company are also in the list of accused.
Pahadi had worked as an employee of the state-owned telecommunication company for the past three decades. Pahadi succeeded the then Managing Director of the NT Sunil Poudel, who was suspended from the position after being found guilty in a number of corruption cases. She achieved the post of MD through open competition.
On January 10, 2012, the NT and AsiaInfo Linkage Technologies Inc signed a contract for annual maintenance for up to six years while purchasing a Convergent Real-Time Billing and Customer Support systems. Although the contract included a provision for payments to decrease by five percent annually, the accused have been alleged to have violated this clause.
The CIAA’s investigation has concluded that the group including Pahadi had caused financial losses of more than Rs 600 million annually to the telecom company through the billing system in the name of 'negotiation'. Rajendra Kumar Poudel, spokesperson for the CIAA said the NT suffers losses by entering into an agreement with supplier AsiaInfo. “The deal to purchase annual maintenance services for US dollars 20.563 million at an unusual price is against the provision of contract with an annual five percent discount," said Poudel.
Earlier, in this case, the CIAA had taken statements from former Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal, two joint secretaries, and around 30 employees including the board of directors of the NT. However, the CIAA has let go of the board members and other influential NT officials without filing any cases against them.
Meanwhile, the NT has also landed in controversy over the process of tendering for a new contract for billing. This is likely to disrupt the tender process.
