KATHMANDU, Oct 22: Police had arrested more than 600 people prior to Rabi Lamichhane’s arrest in the cooperative fraud scam. They were arrested on charges of embezzling and defrauding public funds deposited in cooperatives. Some of those arrested are currently serving sentences. Most recently, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chairman and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane was also arrested in connection with the cooperative fraud scam.
According to Nepal Police statistics, 346 people have been arrested in the past two years alone. These arrests were made based on 258 complaints. So far, 24,224 depositors have filed complaints claiming they were victimized by the cooperative operators. Based on these complaints, the police arrested more than 600 people so far for investigation.
The police have also arrested cooperative fraud suspects who had fled and were hiding in different countries. "The police are collecting data on how many suspects have been arrested and how many are still at large. The number of arrests is already above 600, and we are in the process of finalizing all the data," said Nepal Police spokesperson Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dan Bahadur Karki.
The Kaski District Court has granted police the permission to keep RSP chairman Rabi Lamichhane in custody for six days for further investigation following his recent arrest.
The Kaski District Court also granted police the permission to keep Chhabilal Joshi, a former DIG and business partner of Rabi Lamichhane, in custody for an additional 20 days for further investigation. Joshi was arrested in September.
Joshi was a director of Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd. Both Joshi and Lamichhane are currently in custody of Kaski police. Another director of Gorkha Media Network, Kumar Ramtel, has been in Kaski prison for a long time on charges of cooperative fraud.
Ramtel had withdrawn money from Supreme Cooperative in Butwal to pay the loan installments on behalf of Rabi Lamichhane. Ramtel admitted in his statement to a high-level investigation committee led by Member of Parliament (MP) Surya Thapa that he paid the loan installments on Lamichhane’s behalf. Ramtel was appointed a director of Gorkha Media after Lamichhane quit from his post.
RSP to continue protests against arrest of Chairman Lamichhane
Shivkumar Gurung (Mahendra Bhote), a former director of Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara, and Bhabishwar Aryal, a software developer for the same cooperative, are also currently in custody on charges of embezzling cooperative funds.
Ichchha Raj Tamang, who was previously a Member of Parliament from the CPN-UML party, is also serving a sentence in Dillibazar prison for cases related to cooperative fraud and banking offense.
During an inquiry by the committee led by MP Thapa, Tamang stated that he would sell his assets to return the public's savings. He is accused of misappropriating around Rs 8 billion from a cooperative. His wife has also been arrested in connection with the cooperative fraud case.
Krisna Bahadur (KB) Upreti, who is close to the CPN-UML, is also in Dillibazar jail on charges of embezzling around Rs 7 billion from a cooperative. Rabindra Chaulagain, the chairman of Deurali Savings and Credit Cooperative, is also in jail for a banking offense. The Chief Executive Officer of Laliguras Multi-Purpose Cooperative is currently in custody on charges of embezzling savings of the cooperative.
Similarly, Himalaya Bikram Malla Thakuri, the chairman of Kantipur Savings and Credit Cooperative, and director Chandra Bahadur (CB) Lama are also in jail on charges of embezzling funds. They are accused of misappropriating Rs 8 billion from the cooperative.
Just before Dashain, police arrested Dev Kumar Nepali, the mayor of Dhorpatan Municipality in Baglung, with the assistance of Indian police from New Delhi on charges of cooperative fraud. He is accused of embezzling Rs 1.80 billion of the depositors. Nepali claims that the valuation of the properties in his name and his wife's is about Rs 3 billion and has requested permission to sell those assets to return the depositors' funds.
The Kaski District Court granted police permission on Friday to arrest Rabi Lamichhane along with 14 others for investigation in the cooperative fraud case. While Lamichhane has already been arrested, the police are still searching for the others. Lamichhane was apprehended on Friday evening in Kathmandu and taken to Pokhara, Kaski.
After Lamichhane's arrest, RSP activists have taken to the streets to exert undue pressure on police investigations and the judiciary. Lamichhane himself has stated that a movement is necessary to overthrow the government led by KP Oli and has called on his supporters to actively participate in the movement.
Lamichhane’s latest appeal from Kaski District Court to his supporters to join the movement to overthrow the Oli government, accusing him of corruption, is in stark contrast to his frequent visits to Baluwatar in the recent past to lobby for the post of deputy prime minister and home minister.
His appeal sparked excitement among the supporters. While Lamichhane was making such statements outside the court, the police remained passive. They allowed him to speak before presenting him in court on Sunday. In protest of his arrest, the RSP held a show of strength in Pokhara.
RSP leaders and supporters tied black bands around their eyes and staged a sit-in in Pokhara. Most RSP MPs, including DP Aryal and Swarnim Wagle, arrived in Pokhara on Friday night. The RSP also held a protest in Pokhara on Saturday. On Sunday, MPs, leaders, and supporters of the RSP, including Sumana Shrestha, Chanda Karki, Shiva Nepali, and Bindabasini Kansakar, protested blindfolded in Pokhara.
Meanwhile, Kaski police took Leela Pachhai into custody for investigation on September 30, alleging that funds from Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperative had been deposited into her account. She is currently in Kaski police custody as well.
Lamichhane has remained silent regarding Pachhai's arrest. Evidence has already confirmed that Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd, of which Lamichhane was a director, misappropriated funds from the cooperative. While Lamichhane has claimed responsibility for the portion of the funds that went to Gorkha Media Network, he is also alleged of attempting to influence the investigation. The police have stated that they are investigating Lamichhane for fraud, forgery, money laundering, and organized crime.
Implementation of the parliamentary committee's report
The government has stated that it is working to implement the parliamentary committee's report on cooperative fraud. Government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung mentioned during a press briefing on cabinet decisions that the government is committed to implementing the report presented by the parliamentary committee regarding cooperatives.
"The all-party committee, which was formed by Parliament and has full authority, has presented a report and the government is now taking ownership of and initiating its implementation process. The process of detaining individuals identified in the report for investigation has already begun," Minister Gurung stated. He also informed that actions against other individuals mentioned in the report will be taken forward.
