The committee led by Bhesh Raj Sharma, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, was formed after the government faced problems in implementing its plan to dispose ULI property and recoup money, as existing law lacked provisions that allowed the government to adopt force liquidation to refund the fraud victims. [break]
“The problem surfaced mainly as our law has no provision, which allows government to forcefully liquidate property held by an individual or firm, even if it is found involved in crime,” said a source.
He informed myrepublica.com that the committee has been entrusted with the responsibility of suggesting legal course the government could take to refund the victims. It has also been asked to suggest ways through which the government could do justice to hundreds of thousands of deceived customers, in case there exists no legal option.
Records of Unity show that it had sold illegal assurance and health schemes to 366,342 Nepalis, raking in well over $53.20 million, as of May 1, 2010. Amongst them, some 58,000 members placed at the top of the pyramid enjoyed handsome commission returns running more than $20.96 million.
If the finding is anything to go by, 308,342 people had lost their money and their claims could stand well over Rs 4.5 billion, as the company had collected as much as Rs 15,000 from a client for illegal schemes it sold.
“We are still not clear how we can refund the commoners´ hard earned money. But in principle, our plan is to sell the property held by the company and its promoters and distribute the money to all the victims,” said the source.
As investigators failed to dig out enough cash balances of the company and its promoters, which many people believe has been siphoned out of the country, the government will need to sell its land and buildings to generate the money for distribution.
“We do not have the exact valuation of the property that has been frozen. So, we cannot say for sure how it can be refund,” said the source.
ULI had illegally sold more than three dozen schemes, including long-term social security plans, assurance plans and free health treatment schemes over the last four years. The government has filed three separate criminal cases against its management and two against other people associated with ULI at the District Court Lalitpur.
The petition has sought three years jail term and millions of rupees in fine for the offense in each case.
The defendants facing the charges are Bhim Bahadur Gurung, Krishna Bahadur Chhetri, Bishnu Chhetri, Kashi Ram Gurung, Indra Bahadur BK, Ram Dev Yadav Dinesh Yadav and Bhupendra Bahadur Malla. The police, however, have yet to arrest the key promoters.
milan@myrepublica.com
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