By Rick M 
Chaired by Rabi Lamichhane, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has been accused of fraud in a cooperative which is to take Lamichhane for further investigation in Butwal after the Tihar festival. The Rupandehi District Court has allowed to interrogate Lamichhane, who is also the former managing director of Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd, Chhabilal Joshi who is the vice-chair of media company and 12 other people in the case.
The verdict is a part of the current investigation of a cooperative fraud linked to the Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative based in Butwal. The bench of Judge Shyam Prasad Shrestha formed the Lamichhane, Joshi, and others’ arrest and investigation for the embezzlement of the funds from the cooperatives. Pokhara police detained Lamichhane and Joshi in the beginning and both are under an investigation regarding the fraud.
Government agencies are investigating bribes of Rs 25 million under the account of Joshi and Rs 20 million under the RSP chair and Gorkha Media Network proprietor Lamichhane from Supreme Cooperative. A parliamentary committee under lawmaker Surya Thapa had claimed that Rs 142.9 million was siphoned off from Butwal-based Supreme Cooperative to the accounts of a media company owned by Lamichhane, amongst others GB Rai.
What is more, the fraud was rather large, as out of Rs1.07 billion, 10,391 depositors of Supreme Cooperative had deposited Rs780 million, which is stated to have been embezzled. Rupandehi police had opened a case against 28 accused, of which the cooperative chairman Om Prakash Gurung is among them and has already been arrested. Other officials like Jitendra Babu (GB) Rai and Bhupendra Babu Rai are absconding till today, and several others are under release on bail, including the manager Sagar KC of the club.
The investigation has raised eyebrows among the political and business fraternity not only in Butwal but also in other parts of the country. Lamichhane who is now a politician was actively trolled since he ventured into political arena. This latest development only seems to heighten the situation for the RSP chairman who has been a political thorn in the side of the Nepali government since his election to the parliament, the appointment as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister which he subsequently resigned from due to lack of citizenship papers.
The case has shed more light on the non-monitoring or supervision of cooperative societies in Ne pal and the possibility of their exploitation by some powerful persons. It has also brought out the question of even enhanced vigilance to ensure the smaller saver whose monies are deposited with these financial institutions are also protected. With the coming of the investigation, many throughout Nepal, especially in Butwal, are keenly waiting to see the effects it will bring to the Nepalese political domain and change the course of the net CFIs in Nepal.
Lamichhane’s next investigation is also planned after one of the biggest festivals, Tihar, in Nepal, which has raised issues of inches and commitment to cultural celebrations and justice. However, it will be interesting to see the future of this high profile case and the outcome that it may reflect for political and financial areas of Butwal and many other areas as the authority tries to find out how the network of transactions took place and whether it was done with wrong intention or not.