Another cooperative fraud case has been filed against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, making it the fifth such case filed against him.
The latest case involves fraud at Sano Paila Savings and Credit Cooperative in Parsa.
Preliminary hearings on four previous cooperative fraud cases against Lamichhane have already been completed.
The District Police Office, Parsa, completed its investigation on April 25 and sent a supplementary charge sheet to the District Government Attorney's Office, Parsa. After more than a month, the District Government Attorney's Office filed a case against Lamichhane and 28 others on Friday, June 13.
The government attorney has also named former deputy inspector general of police Chhabilal Joshi as a defendant in the supplementary charge sheet.
According to the charges filed by the government attorney, Lamichhane is liable to pay Rs 57.43 million to Sano Paila Cooperative, with the amount demanded to compensate the victims who had filed complaints. The total claim against him is Rs 115.69 million.
District Attorney Bholanath Niraula, chief of the District Government Attorney’s Office, Parsa, said that over Rs 115 million has been claimed collectively. Lamichhane himself has to pay Rs 57.43 million, while over Rs 115 million has been claimed for his alleged involvement in the misappropriation.
The government attorney’s office has sought a prison sentence of 6 to 8 years for Lamichhane under the Cooperatives Act. It has also sought additional punishment under the Prevention of Organized Crime Act.
The claimed amount and prison sentence are the biggest demanded against Lamichhane in a cooperative fraud case to date.
It is alleged that Lamichhane personally misappropriated Rs 15 million, while Rs 100.69 million was misappropriated during his tenure as board member/managing director/shareholder of Gorkha Media. Therefore, Rs 115.69 million has been claimed from him.
Police and government attorneys have also presented some evidence against Lamichhane. Investigations revealed that he became a member of Sano Paila Cooperative on August 2, 2021, depositing Rs 100,000 as a share. He also opened a debtor account that day and took a loan of Rs 15 million the next day at a 12% interest rate, due by August 3, 2025. The charge sheet notes that he held a Rs 100,000 share in the cooperative.
The Rs 15 million loan in his name was transferred to Gorkha Media Network’s account on August 3, 2021. By July 27, 2022, this loan had increased to Rs 18.69 million. But no repayments were made to the cooperative, and the loan was transferred to GB Rai’s name through collusion, the charge sheet says.
It also says that over Rs 10 million was transferred from Sano Paila to Gorkha Media during Lamichhane’s tenure as managing director.
When Lamichhane was executive director, a bank account was opened for Gorkha Media at Global IME Bank’s Kalopul branch on October 18, 2020, allowing check withdrawals with the signature of one of three authorized persons and the company’s stamp.
Lamichhane left the company on June 16, 2022.
According to the charge sheet, funds transferred from Sano Paila’s Global Bank account to Gorkha Media included Rs 2.5 million on April 18, 2021, Rs 5 million on May 16, 2021, Rs 5 million on September 29, 2021, Rs 20 million on December 9, 2021, Rs 5 million on January 13, 2022, and Rs 4 million on May 18, 2022.
Additionally, Rs 10 million was transferred from Sano Paila’s account at Mukti Development Bank to Gorkha Media on February 14, 2022, Rs 29.5 million from Citizens Bank on August 3, 2021, and Rs 19.7 million from Nepal Investment Mega Bank on August 3, 2021.
Neither Lamichhane nor founding shareholder Chhabilal Joshi were able to provide evidence that Gorkha Media repaid these amounts, the charge sheet says, accusing the defendants of not settling the loan.
Lamichhane is currently in Rupandehi Prison, following an order from the Butwal bench of Tulsipur High Court on April 4 to keep him in judicial custody.
Previously, the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kaski, filed a case against him at the Kaski District Court on December 22 last year. It claimed Rs 33.76 million from him in the case involving misappropriation of funds at Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperative in Kaski.
The Kaski District Court ordered his release on a Rs 6.5 million bail on January 9.
Additionally, Rs 278.94 million was sought from him for money laundering.
In a case involving Swarnalaxmi Multipurpose Cooperative of Kalimati, Kathmandu, a total of Rs 50.87 million was claimed from Lamichhane and GB Rai. The Kathmandu District Court ordered his release on a Rs 6 million bail on January 15.
On January 26, the Rupandehi District Court ordered Lamichhane’s release on a Rs 10 million bail in the Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative case. The District Government Attorney’s Office sought Rs 41.53 million from him, including Rs 20 million as personal liability and Rs 21.53 million as collective liability under Gorkha Media.
In the Sahara Multipurpose Cooperative case in Chitwan, a claim of Rs 27 million was made against Lamichhane. Of the Rs 108 million transferred to Gorkha Media, the claim was equally divided among Lamichhane, GB Rai, Chhabilal Joshi, and Kumar Ramtel.
The Chitwan District Court ordered his release in the case on a Rs 5.4 million bail.
