Finance Minister Janardan Sharma was found facilitating the release of suspicious Rs 400 million belonging to one Prithvi Shah.

Earlier on March 25, Shah had submitted an application directly to Minister Sharma. He had written the application on a plain paper urging the Finance Minister to release the money that came in the name of his 11 companies. 

According to a source, the Ministry wrote a letter to the Governor of Nepal Rastrya Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari asking the reason for not releasing the money.

Later, the Rastra Bank sent a letter to the Ministry with reasons that the money cannot be released at present. 

Because of that, Minister Sharma was miffed with Governor Adhikari. 

It has been learnt that the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FINSEN) of the United States had written to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to freeze and return the money received in the name of various companies of Shah.

The Rastra Bank started the investigation on the basis of the same. 

“Nepal will be blacklisted for money laundering if the Nepal Rastra Bank releases the money asked by the FINSEN,” a source at the ministry said, adding, “The Rastra Bank took the right decision to prevent Nepal from being in the blacklist.”

Former Finance Minister Ram Saran Mahat said that the government should take action against Minister Sharma if he has taken a decision against the law. 

“It is wrong to direct the Nepal Rastra Bank to release the suspicious money without knowing the source. This is a kind of misusing the post,” he said. 

Former Governor Bijay Nath Bhattarai said that it is wrong to try to release the suspicious money that came in the name of Shah and his relatives from the United States. 

“Finance Minister Sharma has already made a mistake. He has no right to talk about the issue,” Bhattarai said.