Police submit investigation report against Lamichhane

The District Police Office, Kaski, has concluded its investigation into the cooperative fraud case involving Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane and submitted its report to the District Attorney’s Office on Monday. The report recommends prosecuting 51 individuals, including Lamichhane, former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, Ram Prasad Khanal, and Lila Pachhai, who are currently in police custody. Most of the other suspects remain at large.

The suspects have been charged with cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering. Kaski police have also recommended recovery of around Rs 1.51bn. The investigation revealed that Lamichhane and others were involved in irregularities concerning funds from Suryadarshan Cooperative in Kaski, which were allegedly diverted to Gorkha Media Network and misused. 

Evidence gathered during the course of investigation includes checks issued by Lamichhane to repay loans taken from multiple cooperatives. Lamichhane, however, has claimed that the checks in question were left in a drawer during his tenure as the managing director of Gorkha Media Network, and someone else may have filled them out without his consent.  

The investigation, which began with Suryadarshan Cooperative, expanded to four other cooperatives: Kathmandu’s Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, Chitwan’s Sahara Chitwan Cooperative, Birgunj’s Sano Paila Cooperative, and Nepalgunj’s Samanata Cooperative.  

Police investigation has revealed that Lamichhane and his associates took out loans, including Rs 4.6m each from Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, to purchase vehicles in Lamichhane and GB Rai’s names.  

Lamichhane faced these allegations while serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in the coalition government of the CPN (Maoist Center), CPN-UML, and RSP. The opposition party at the time, Nepali Congress, had made this case a major agenda in parliament, demanding the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate cooperative irregularities.

A parliamentary committee led by UML MP Surya Thapa found Lamichhane guilty of misusing cooperative funds. The committee’s report revealed that Rs 224.6m from six cooperatives, including Suryadarshan, Supreme, Swarnalakshmi, Sahara, Sano Paila, and Samanata, had been funneled into Gorkha Media Network.  

In response to the report, police arrested former DIG Joshi on Sept 22 and Lamichhane on Oct 19 from his party office in Banasthali. Further legal proceedings are ongoing. Lamichhane was apprehended after the Kaski District Court issued an arrest warrant against him. Prior to the arrest, Lamichhane organized a press conference and said that he had been framed by the state.

The parliamentary special panel, formed to investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives, had recommended in its report that the government initiate legal action against Joshi, one of the founders of the Gorkha Media Network, along with the company’s chair, Rai, then managing director Lamichhane, and board member Kumar Ramtel.

The committee’s report was submitted to Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire on Sept 16 and subsequently forwarded to the government. A Cabinet meeting on Sept 19 received the report and directed the ministries and agencies concerned to implement it.

Following the parliamentary panel’s directives, Minister of Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak ordered Nepal Police to expedite legal action on the cooperatives scam. INTERPOL has already issued a diffusion notice for Rai, who remains on the run.

Ramtel is already in judicial custody in Kaski for his role in misusing cooperative funds. The law allows a detention period of up to 60 days for investigating suspects of organized crime and 90 days for money laundering cases. Authorities aim to present the four individuals currently in custody in court on Tuesday to extend their detention. If possible, the district attorney plans to file the case on the same day.