CIB team reaches Pokhara to investigate cooperative fraud case involving GB Rai

Published On: February 19, 2024 04:50 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Feb 19: A Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) team of Nepal Police has reached Pokhara to investigate the Suryadarshan Saving and Credit Cooperative fraud case.

According to police sources, CIB has dispatched a technical team to Pokhara under the command of a police inspector and initiated the investigation.

On February 7, a raid was conducted at the residence of former partner of Galaxy Television and former DIG Chhabi Lal Joshi.

The police recovered four servers from his house during the raid. Sources said that the help of CIB has been taken to get the information/details from those servers. The CIB team is actively working on it.

In the house raided by the police, there was previously an office of Nature Herbs Pvt Ltd run by Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai.

The police visited this location after obtaining statements from individuals arrested in connection with the cooperative fraud case. Electronic records of significant documents were discovered at the site, according to police reports.

It was revealed from the investigation report that millions of rupees was given as loans to Nature Herbs, Nature Next and others from the cooperative.

Former DIG Joshi was the founder of Gorkha Media Network, which operates Galaxy Television. GB Rai held 50 percent shares, while former DIG Joshi held 35 percent shares in the network.

Under the name of Gorkha Media, Suryadarshan Cooperative initially defaulted on a loan of Rs 10 million, followed by another default on a loan of Rs 1.35 billion.

Investigation findings revealed that significant sums of money were disbursed as loans to Nature Herbs, Nature Next, and other entities by the cooperative.

In this fraud case, the police have issued a diffusion notice against GB Rai, Suryadarshan Cooperative’s current President Than Bahadur Budhamgar and former president Bhupendra Rai through Interpol.

Furthermore, the police are preparing to issue a red notice against GB Rai. Kaski police is actively engaged in compiling the necessary documentation.