Chitwan, Feb 4: A case has been filed at the Chitwan District Court against former Home Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and 15 others for embezzling funds from Sahara Chitwan Multipurpose Cooperative Limited. Along with individuals, six organizations have also been charged in the case.
According to court information officer Amrit Bishwakarma, the defendants include Rabi Lamichhane, Chhabilal Joshi, Ram Bahadur Khanal, Rabina Rimal, Bishal Gurung, Nabin Achhami, Kabita Tamang, Dipak Lama, Ashraf Ali Siddiqui, Bhagawati Bamjan, Laxmi Prasad Paudel, Bigyan Rai, Netrapani Bastola, Shiva Bahadur Gurung, and Pragati Shrestha. Previously, 17 defendants were charged in the first case registered on Ashwin 8. However, Lamichhane was not named at that time. The recently registered case includes him among 15 defendants, along with six organizations, including Gorkha Media Pvt. Ltd. and Sahara Savings.
Among the five companies where funds from Sahara Cooperative were transferred are Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd., Nature Herbs International Pvt. Ltd., GB Group of Companies, Springwood Housing Pvt. Ltd., and Nature Nest Pvt. Ltd.
Out of a total of 32 defendants, 12 have been charged with both fraud and organized crime, while 20 have been charged with fraud alone.
Defendants accused of fraud and organized crime include GB Rai alias Gitendra Babu Rai, Hemant Adhikari, Sagar KC, Ashish Anand, Ananta Babu Rai, Bhupendra Rai, Devendra Bahadur Rai, Dinesh Roka, Kumar Ramtel, Chhabilal Joshi, Dipak Lama, and Netra Bastola.
Earlier on Ashwin 8, a case was filed against 17 individuals in Chitwan District Court. The accused in that case include GB Rai, Kumar Ramtel, Sagar KC, Bir Bahadur Ranabhat, Hemanta Adhikari, Chhatramani Bhattarai, Bhupendra Rai, Ananta Babu Rai, Ashish Anand, Devendra Babu Rai, Dinesh Roka, Deepa Neupane, Shiva Prasad Acharya, Manoj Gurung, Tirtharaj Lamichhane, Sharan Bishwakarma, and Thaman alias Dan Bahadur Budha Magar. However, their statements have not been taken yet.
The supplementary charge filed today by the Chitwan District Attorney’s Office mentions that the alleged amount of fraud in the Sahara Chitwan Multipurpose Cooperative case is Rs. 52 crore 32 lakhs.
Out of this, a compensation claim of Rs. 38 crore 9 lakhs has been filed. The remaining amount of Rs. 14 crore 23 lakh will be claimed in a subsequent supplementary charge, according to Bishwakarma.
The claim for compensation from various companies amounts to Rs. 43 crore 32 lakh. Individually, GB Rai owes Rs 41 lakhs, Ashraf Ali Siddiqui Rs 3.2 crore, and Mahendra Bhote alias Shiva Bahadur Gurung Rs. 2.64 crore.
Chitwan District Court Registrar Bishnu Prasad Acharya said the fraud charges are based on sections 249(1) and 249(2) of the Criminal Code Act, with punishment demands under section 3(g). In terms of organized crime, the charges are based on sections 3(1), 3(2), 3(3)(a), and 5 of the Organized Crime Prevention Act 2070, with penalties outlined in section 9(a) and (g).
Although Rabi Lamichhane has been charged with fraud, no financial claim has been made against him. Of the 32 defendants, five, including Lamichhane, Ram Bahadur Khanal, Chhabilal Joshi, Kumar Ramtel, and Mahendra Bhote alias Shiva Bahadur Gurung, were present at the court to face charges.
The case also reveals that Lamichhane holds shares worth Rs 1.8 crore in Gorkha Media Network, and Rs 1 crore was deposited in the Global IME Bank account of Gorkha Media Network through Sahara Cooperative funds.
A total of 814 cheques were issued under Lamichhane’s sole signature, amounting to Rs 48 crore 58 lakh, while six cheques amounting to Rs. 60 lakhs were issued with joint signatures of Lamichhane and GB Rai.
Additionally, Rs 39,38,251 was paid to Nikita Poudel (Lamichhane’s wife) and Rs 81,25,000 to Gorkha Movies through four cheques from Gorkha Media’s bank account.
The supplementary charge requests Lamichhane to be punished under section 249(3)(g) of the Criminal Code Act 2074. #rabi #fraud
