Allegations against me are 100 percent false: Malhotra

KATHMANDU, July 25: It has been found that gold traders from Nepal and India have set up offices in Hong Kong and are allegedly facilitating gold smuggling. According to a high security source, some individuals who have been involved in gold smuggling since the past and some new traders have set up offices in Hong Kong to carry out gold smuggling.

According to sources, Nepalis and Indian businessmen based in Hong Kong have established offices and smuggle gold to Nepal by creating a favorable environment. "Nepali and Indian traders have joint offices in Hong Kong, from where they send gold to Nepal only after making arrangements. Sometimes the gold is recovered only if one of the involved parties does not get the commission amount agreed-upon or when it is not good enough,'' a source said. Most of the offices operated in Hong Kong for gold smuggling are set up by Indian citizens and Nepali traders of Indian origin. They smuggle gold to Nepal from Hong Kong through Chinese agents. Sources claim that they are staying in Nepal and India and making arrangements with Chinese agents in the offices established in Hong Kong.

Sources said that when several questions have been raised after the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) seized about 100 kg of gold, it has been disclosed that Nepali and Indian businessmen have collaborated and set up offices in Hong Kong, from where they facilitate gold smuggling from Nepal to India. It is estimated that a company named Ready Trade, which was established in Nepal only three months ago, has smuggled gold more than 22 times by hiding gold in brake shoes of motorcycles. Last Wednesday, the DRI recovered around 100 kg of gold from Sinamangal that had been cleared by the customs office at the TIA.

“Nepali traders coordinate with Indian and Chinese traders. Rather than their own investment, they mediate the investment of Indian and Chinese businessmen to smuggle gold from Nepal to India. For that, they take a hefty commission amount of Rs 200,000 per kg,” said the source.

According to sources, gold traders who have set up offices in Hong Kong are Kisan Agarwal, Mohan Agarwal, Rajendra Shakya, Mahabir Prasad Golyan, Bimal Poddar, Rajkumar Daruka, Sanjay Khetan, Murarilal Goyal, Balkrishna Agarwal, Satya Narayan Soni, Binod Kumar Soni Suman Agarwal. They have been sending gold to India through Nepal by employing Chinese citizens as agents. They have been using Chinese citizens as agents to smuggle gold from Nepal to India. They also have gold businesses in Nepal and India. Murarilal Goyal had a gold shop in Durbar Marg while Shakya still owns a gold shop in New Road.

Recently, it has been revealed that a businessman involved in bank fraud and the stock market has an office in Hong Kong. Sources claim that the individual is engaged in the business of silver and silver goods there and also smuggles silver goods into Nepal. According to sources, the person who was responsible for the collapse of the then Gorkha Development Bank and was accused of bank fraud in the name of building the Finance Tower in Kamaladi also has set up an office in Hong Kong. He is also under the DRI scanner.

“A DRI source said that the individual involved in bank fraud was seen departing for India from Tribhuvan International Airport on June 23. From there, he went to Hong Kong and returned to Nepal via Dubai on July 5. After he came to Nepal, Gold arrived in Nepal from Hong Kong. The travel history of that individual is suspicious,” said the DRI source.

Earlier, it was also revealed that the Indian and Nepali traders have set up offices in Hong Kong during an investigation conducted by the home ministry into the 33kg gold smuggling case.  At that time, it was mentioned in the report that gold was smuggled by opening parallel offices in Dubai and Hong Kong. A report was prepared by a committee under the leadership of home ministry Joint-secretary Ishwar Paudel saying that the gold traders of Nepal and India smuggle gold by setting up offices in Hong Kong and Dubai. However, the report has not been made public till now. The High-level Probe Committee established at the time recovered gold worth Rs 300 million from Rajendra Shakya’s RK Jewelers. The investigation also revealed that Bimal Poddar, and Mahabir Golyan were also involved in the same case.

It has also been mentioned in the report that the gold smuggled to Nepal from Hong Kong goes directly to Mumbai without any obstruction, and Indian traders, Nepali gold traders take risks without investing to bring the gold to India. “In many cases when gold is smuggled to Mumbai, there is no investment of Indian and Nepali traders. Instead, Nepali gold traders only used to facilitate gold smuggling,” said a security source who has been conducting an investigation into gold smuggling. According to him, the gold that arrives in Nepal from Hong Kong is always sent to Mumbai. Indian and Chinese traders invest only in gold coming through Dubai and Chinese borders. 

All allegations against me are 100 percent false: Deepak Malhotra

After the gold was recovered, my name was linked to the case from the very next day. There is an allegation that I am involved in gold smuggling by taking commission. All these allegations are false. I have never been involved in such smuggling activities in the past, nor am I involved in any such activities now. The allegations are entirely false and have no truth. Someone may have linked my name to mislead the investigation. Some 25 years ago, I used to trade in gold, but now I have parted ways from that business. I am surprised that my name has been associated with gold smuggling even though I have completely left that business. All the allegations have been made without any evidence.

Now, I am engaged in the business of mobile phones. I am investing in the real estate business (plotting, housing) and the hydropower sector. IMS Group imports Samsung brand mobile phones in Nepal. I started this business in 2001. I have made investments in gateway payment. I have invested in agriculture and lemon cultivation in Sunsari. At present, my business is facing difficulties, I am facing a hard time repaying the bank loan. I am not in a situation to invest in gold and I cannot even think of investing in smuggled gold. On the other hand, it is true that the airport has given a 30-year contract to IMS Group to manage the parking lot, but it is not true that we have access to the CCTV cameras at the airport.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has given permission to our company to monitor CCTV cameras, which are used only for technical control of the outer area. Security agencies also have access to the camera. Despite our investment, we have not yet started receiving returns, and our company is currently facing losses. In this situation, I want to clarify that all the allegations made against me are baseless and untrue.

 
• gold_smuggling
 
• office_in_Hong_Kong
 
• Deepak_Malhotra