KATHMANDU, Nov 15: The Kaski District Police Office has sent letters to all relevant agencies to prevent the sale and transfer of ownership of assets belonging to Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman and former deputy prime minister Rabi Lamichhane, among others, who are implicated in the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case in Pokhara.
The Kaski police, who are holding Lamichhane and others implicated in the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case in custody for investigation, have sent letters to the relevant agencies to freeze all their assets.
The police do not wish to disclose the matter of sending letters to freeze the assets of Lamichhane, who is also a former home minister. When inquired about it, an official from the Kaski District Police Office stated that they could not comment on an ongoing investigation. "You are aware that we do not, and cannot, speak about ongoing investigations," said Kaski police Spokesperson Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Basanta Kumar Sharma. A source indicated that the Kaski police have sent letters to all concerned agencies to freeze Lamichhane's assets.
The bench of Judge Navaraj Dahal at the Kaski District Court recently granted the police an additional 13 days to keep Lamichhane in custody for investigation. During the hearing, the judge questioned whether the police were only buying time for the investigation or if the cooperative victims would also get their money back. Following this, a source mentioned that the Kaski police have sent letters to all relevant agencies to freeze the assets of Lamichhane and others implicated in the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case.
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Lamichhane, who was arrested on October 18 from the RSP central office in Kathmandu, had his custody extended for the fourth time. During the custody extension hearing last Sunday, Judge Dahal questioned the police about whether the cooperative victims would get their money back. The Kaski police are holding Lamichhane in custody and investigating him in connection with the cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering cases.
A police officer stated that freezing the assets of those implicated in the fraud case is not unusual. "This is a standard procedure, and there is no need to make it a big issue," the officer said. Police investigations have revealed that Lamichhane has misappropriated over Rs 1.59 billion from Suryadarshan Cooperative.
According to the Kaski District Police Office, the funds of the cooperative have been embezzled since 2015. Lamichhane, the former managing director of Gorkha Media Network, is accused of embezzling the cooperative's funds by collaborating with the founding chairman of the cooperative, Gitendrababu (GB Rai), and bringing the money into Gorkha Media Network. A case was filed against Lamichhane at the Kaski District Court. Investigations have revealed that most of the Rs 650 million transferred from cooperatives like Suryadarshan to Gorkha Media Network were spent using Lamichhane's signature.
Along with Lamichhane, Chhabilal Joshi, the former director of Gorkha Media Network, who is also implicated in the embezzlement of funds from cooperatives like Suryadarshan, is in custody for investigation by Kaski police. The main suspect in the cooperative fraud case, Rai, is currently on the run. On February 5, 2024, the victims of the Suryadarshan Cooperative submitted a petition to the Kaski District Police Office requesting supplementary investigations. A case has been filed against 19 individuals, including the former directors of the cooperative, Shiva Bahadur Gurung, Bhawishwar Aryal, Treasurer Kumar Ramtel, and former Vice Chairman Kailash Darlami, all of whom are in custody for further investigation. Their assets have also been frozen. The accused, including Rai, his brother Bhupendra, Manager Thanbahadur Budha, Director Dheeraj Kumar Das, Hemanta Adhikari, and others, remain at large.
The parliamentary special committee, formed under the leadership of UML lawmaker Surya Thapa to investigate the embezzlement of cooperative funds, had also recommended action against Lamichhane and others involved in the misappropriation of the funds. Based on this recommendation, the Kaski police are holding Lamichhane in custody and conducting an investigation.
The parliamentary inquiry committee on cooperative fraud has suggested that the directors of the troubled cooperatives return the lost funds to the savers. The committee also recommended freezing the institutional assets of the troubled cooperatives, as well as the assets of the directors and employees implicated in the embezzlement. It further advised imposing travel restrictions on them. The committee's report states that the likelihood of the troubled cooperatives resuming operations is minimal.
It has recommended that the government take a two-phase approach to recover the lost funds of the savers. To facilitate this, the committee suggested forming groups of three to seven people based on the size of each cooperative and sending them to each cooperative. The committee also recommended that legal and institutional measures be implemented at the central, provincial, and local levels to facilitate the return of deposits and other necessary actions.
The committee has also suggested improvements in troubled cooperatives to address issues such as creating fake borrowers and failing to write off loans that have already been paid.
The committee's report states, "As cooperatives become troubled, their offices may be closed, and directors may be suspended or imprisoned. In such cases, where savings have been invested in assets used as collateral for loans, the interest should also be capitalized. The committee has observed tendencies where loans are auctioned without regard for the savers' deposits, leading to the auctioning of properties to recover loan amounts. It is recommended that the government, through Nepal Rastra Bank, coordinate with banks and financial institutions to auction such properties at market value and recover the loan amounts, with the remaining funds to be provided to the troubled cooperative management committee."
