Judge Lekhnath Dhakal ordered the government to send Netra Bahadur Rajbanshi, Bhim Bahadur Gurung, Indra Bahadur BK, Shishir Yogi and Ram Dev Yadav to jail until the three criminal cases against them are settled. [break]
The court, however, granted bails to two ULI officials -- Bhim Bahadur Khatri and Sudip Ghimire. Khatri is the accountant while Ghimire is the IT in-charge.
They were arrested a month ago following reports about fraudulent activities of ULI.
Rejecting the bail plea of the defendants, the court said that the available evidences furnished by public prosecutors indicate that the accused might have been involved in the multi-million dollar scam.
Twenty persons have been made defendants in three criminal cases related to ULI business but 13 defendants, including ULI Chairman Kashi Gurung, are at large.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered Gurung, ULI Managing Director Bishnu Chhetri and other members of ULI management, to appear before the court within a month.
If they fail to abide by the court subpoena, the court will put on hold the cases against the fleeing defendants, according to Dipak Raj Pant, the registrar of the court.
The ULI management and officials face three cases related to financial crimes and fraud, which are subject to three-year jail term in each case and a fine amounting to Rs 230 million as per the Banking and Financial Institutions Act and Nepal Rastra Bank Act.
Eight of ULI´s promoters have been charged with selling fraudulent schemes, running a bank and carrying out banking and financial activities without seeking permission from the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank.
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