KATHMANDU, Dec 14: The police claim that Rabi Lamichhane, former Home Minister and Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), failed to disclose the full source of his assets. While collecting bank account details of Lamichhane and his wife, Nikita Paudel, investigators found that they could not clarify the sources of their wealth. As part of a money laundering investigation, authorities discovered over Rs 220 million in unexplained funds in their bank accounts, compared to only about Rs 40 million in recorded donations and contributions.
A police officer involved in the money laundering investigation stated, "Nikita, Lamichhane's wife, received about Rs 220 million in her account, but its source remains unclear. The amount claimed as donations is only around Rs 40 million." Police sources revealed that both Lamichhane and Nikita deposited the donation amount into their accounts. However, they failed to explain how or where the additional unexplained funds originated.
The police plan to conclude their investigation and forward Rabi Lamichhane’s case to the District Government Attorney Office (DGAO) between December 18 and 20, highlighting his failure to disclose the source of his assets. Kaski police are finalizing their investigation into charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering against him before submitting the case to the government attorney’s office.
With the government attorney present during the statement recording, the police expedited the remaining investigation and plan to forward the case file to the DGAO. “We will complete the investigation in the next few days and send the case file to the DGAO,” said Dan Bahadur Karki, spokesperson for the Police Headquarters.
The police are investigating five cooperative fraud cases across five districts and have decided to submit the case of Pokhara's Suryadarshan Cooperative to the Kaski DGAO first. The government attorney will review the investigation report and file the case in court. "We will seek punishment under all three charges: cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering," said a source from the Kaski police.
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Kaski police are preparing an additional charge sheet against 40 individuals in the fraud case involving Pokhara's Suryadarshan Cooperative. They have also confirmed that they currently hold five of these individuals in custody.
The police are preparing to proceed with the case based on the date of Chhabilal Joshi's arrest, which occurred on September 22. Rabi Lamichhane was arrested about a month later.
The police arrested Rabi Lamichhane in Kathmandu on October 18 and took him to Pokhara via Chitwan. Before that, they arrested Leela Pachai, who was closely associated with GB Rai and had engaged in suspicious transactions, along with Chhabi's bodyguard Ram Bahadur Khanal and cooperative operator Krishna Gurung.
Before filing the additional charges, authorities lodged a case against 19 individuals, including GB Rai and Kumar Ramtel. Some, including Rai, are on the run, while others are in pre-trial detention. Authorities are charging Lamichhane for orchestrating a cooperative fraud. According to the police, the key four planners in the organized crime syndicate are GB Rai, Chhabilal Joshi Banjade, Kumar Ramtel, and Rabi Lamichhane.
A police officer involved in the investigation said, "We have concluded that if Rabi Lamichhane had not had the ambition and confidence to run Galaxy TV, the cooperative would not have lost such a large amount of money, indicating that he is the main planner behind it."
The police are preparing to file an organized crime case, concluding that Gorkha Media fraudulently obtained Rs 55.8 million in an organized manner. They claim that Gorkha Media received a total of Rs 670 million, including funds from Pokhara's Suryadarshan Cooperative and other cooperatives, through organized means.
The police investigation into the cooperative fraud shows that Lamichhane is liable for over Rs 150 million. "The loss from the cooperative fraud amounts to more than Rs 150 million. Money laundering and organized crime are separate cases," said a source from the Kaski police.
The police initiated the investigation based on the asset details he submitted while serving as Home Minister. They claim that they did not find any calculable assets until he returned from the United States.
After returning to Nepal, an unexpected Rs 60 million appeared in his account, and investigators found that he had sent over Rs 50 million to his wife, who was in the United States, during their divorce. However, the police say that since he did not send this amount legally, they need to conduct further investigation. In the asset details Lamichhane submitted after becoming Home Minister, he stated that he only had Rs 110,000 in his account.
The records show that Nikita owns a five-annas land in Budhanilkantha Municipality-8. She purchased the land for Rs 37.5 million, and the source of the funds is listed as salary. However, the records do not specify from which position or level she received the salary.
Nikita owns 10 ropanis of land in Kathmandu Metropolitan City-7, listed as part of her family's assets. The asset details mention that she possesses about 80 tolas of gold and 15 to 20 kilograms of silver, most of which she received from her parents, with some purchased. The details also show that her bank accounts hold Rs 558,000.
The asset details also reveal that Nikita owns a 25 percent share in the Gopi Krishna Central Complex, valued at Rs 87.5 million, a car purchased for Rs 4.2 million, a Nari TV worth Rs 30 million, Gopi Krishna Kamakhya Media valued at Rs 10 million, and a bank loan of Rs 15 million taken four years ago to buy a house.
Additionally, according to police information, authorities will file cases against her in five districts: Kaski, Rupandehi, Parsa, Chitwan, and Kathmandu. Among these, the police have identified the evidence of misappropriation of funds from Swarna Laxmi Cooperative as the strongest. "It appears she used cooperative funds to purchase the car and conducted other transactions with cooperative funds," a source said.
