KATHMANDU, Dec 23: The District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO), Kaski, filed a case against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane at the Kaski District Court on Sunday on three offenses, seeking more than Rs 275 million in compensation for the victims of cooperative scam. With the registration of the case, he has been suspended from his position as a member of parliament.
On the 92nd day since the arrest of Lamichhane’s associate and former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, the DGAO filed a case against 44 individuals, including the RSP chairman, DIG Joshi and Dipesh Pun, the son of former vice-president of Nepal Nanda Bahadur Pun.
The Kaski DGAO filed a charge-sheet against Lamichhane for organized crime, cooperative fraud, and money laundering offenses, seeking ro recover Rs 278.94 million from him. It has sought a compensation of over Rs 743.47 million from Lamichhane’s business partner Joshi and Rs 21.4 million from Pun.
According to the Money Laundering Prevention Act, Lamichhane's MP post will be automatically suspended as a result of registration of the case at the court.
Police take Lamichhane to DGAO for recording his affidavit
Under Section 27 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2064 (amended), any public servant facing detention or legal charges is required to have his position suspended until the case is resolved. The law specifically states that if a public official is detained or has a case filed against them, their official duties will be put on hold during this period.
In total, the DGAO has sought confiscating assets of five individuals in the case.
Dipesh Pun, the leader of Akhil Krantikari close to CPN (Maoist Centre), has been made a defendant in the offenses related to cooperative fraud and organized crime. Shanti Devi Sharma, assistant district attorney, told Republica that a case has been filed against Pun as a fugitive defendant. Pun was previously arrested and released in connection with a gold smuggling case and is currently at large.
Nikita Poudel, wife of RSP Chairman Lamichhane, has also been made a defendant in the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case.
A case has been filed against Poudel at the Kaski District Court demanding confiscation of her property. The Kaski DGAO stated that Poudel also faces charges related to money laundering.
The police had advised the government attorney to include 51 people as defendants, suggesting that 49 individuals, including Lamichhane, should be charged with money laundering, cooperative fraud, and organized crime. Additionally, GB Rai and Leela Pachai were recommended to face charges under the Rastriya Bank Act. However, the government attorney has not filed cases against all those recommended by the police.
The police investigation concluded that a group, including Lamichhane, Joshi and GB Rai, embezzled Rs 1.51 billion from five different cooperatives across the country. It was found that Suryadarshan's deposit of Rs 54.8 million was misappropriated by Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd. Lamichhane, Joshi, Pachhai, Ram Bahadur Khanal, and Krishna Gurung have been arrested on charges of involvement in the misappropriation of the funds.
