CIB records statement of NC VP Gurung on Miteri Cooperative embezzlement

KATHMANDU, Nov 14: Amid criticisms from opposition parties that the government has been protecting the leaders of the ruling parties, police on Wednesday recorded a statement from the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) Vice President Dhan Raj Gurung in connection with irregularities in the savings account of Miteri Cooperative in Lalitpur.

AIG Deepak Thapa, chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), confirmed that Gurung's statement regarding the cooperative's scam was recorded from 12 noon to 5 pm on Wednesday.

Earlier, the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the embezzlement of funds of cooperatives had recommended that Gurung and his wife, Jyoti, be investigated further and that legal action be taken immediately in connection with the fund embezzlement at Miteri Cooperative based in Lalitpur.

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However, there were allegations that the government was trying to protect Vice President Gurung by excluding him from the investigation. In particular, top leaders of opposition parties, including the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and CPN (Maoist Center), alleged that the government was shielding Vice President Gurung because he belonged to the ruling party.

CIB officers had summoned Vice President Gurung, who previously served as law minister, to their office in Lazimpat on Wednesday. During his statement, Gurung is said to have told CIB officials that his relationship with Jyoti deteriorated after she began staying out late at night, going to discos and clubs, and traveling abroad on her own.

In his statement, Gurung maintained that he did not embezzle the cooperative’s money. Instead, he claimed that he had repeatedly paid the Rs 8.4 million he owed to the cooperative.

Gurung divorced his wife Jyoti on March 12, 2020. However, Gurung is also accused of staging a fake divorce to misappropriate the cooperative’s funds. In his statement to the CIB, he insisted that the divorce was genuine and they are legally separated. Gurung has also promised to cooperate in the investigation into the irregularities at Miteri Cooperative, according to CIB officials.