US bank deposits $1m back in NRB account

KATHMANDU, April 30: US-based Chase Bank has returned the one million dollars that it had earlier deducted from Nepal Rastra Bank´s account at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) after the New York District Court stayed its previous verdict issued on a case filed by one Ashmin Khatri.



The bank had deducted the amount after the same court about two months ago ordered it to repay the amount to Khatri, as he pleaded in his petition, as anti-money laundering authority in Nepal exhibited laxness in explaining the court why the money he swift-transferred to Nepal on July 14, 2008 was frozen. [break]



“But the court stayed its previous decision as soon as the first hearing was held on a case we filed earlier this month,” said a source. The hearing was held about 2 weeks ago.



NRB Governor Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada also confirmed that the deducted amount was redeposited in the central bank´s account at SCB in the US. “One million dollars has been re-deposited in our account after the court issued interim order to the bank not to make payment to Khatri,” he told Republica.



The final decision on the case has yet to come though.



The central bank had lodged the petition at the NY District Court on April 1, appealing it to annul the verdict issued on the case that Khatri filed few months ago. The case was filed after the US officials suggested to the Nepali Embassy in Washington DC to take legal course to recover the money that is linked with an anti-money laundering case subjudice in Nepal.



NRB has hired American lawyers for the case. During the hearing, they pleaded that the money that Khatri transferred to Nepal was not paid to his client Wu Lixian as Wu could not prove the purpose of receiving the money, something which indicates the money is ´not clean´.



Khatri, the promoter of Colorado-based Tarala International and the main contractor of logistics supplied to Nepal Police, had claimed that the transfer made to Wu´s account in Nepal was a part of the payment for logistics Wu supplied to Nepal Police in Nepal as well as Sudan.



However, Wu -- the subcontractor in the deal -- had failed to produce documents like customs declaration, letter of credit and order placement at Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI), the anti-money laundering authority, to prove the legality of the transfer.



As Wu refused to cooperate with the investigation, DRI on February 28 had filed a case against him at the Special Court, Kathmandu, on money laundering charge.

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