After Rabi Lamichhane’s arrest, calls grow to investigate ruling party leaders in cooperative scam cases

After Nepalese police on Friday arrested Rabi Lamichhane, president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and former deputy prime minister, for his alleged involvement in the misuse of cooperative funds, people are now wondering what will happen to the vice-president of the Nepali Congress. Dhanaraj Gurung and CPN-UML MP Rishikesh Pokharel, who are also accused of similar crimes.

Lamichhane’s supporters took to the streets of Kathmandu and Pokhara, calling for the arrest of Gurung and Pokharel. They held placards with the names of Lamichhane, Gurung and Pokharel, wondering whether ruling party MPs would also be arrested.

Lamichhane is currently detained at the Kaski District Police Office after a case was filed against him for allegedly misusing funds of Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara. He is also under investigation for organized crime.

However, the Ministry of Cooperatives said no complaints had been filed regarding the alleged misuse of cooperative funds by Gurung and Pokharel.

“Our department has not received any complaints against the cooperatives involving Gurung and Pokharel,” Tol Raj Upadhyaya, spokesperson for the Department of Cooperatives, told the Post. “Complaints related to cooperatives are also reported at the provincial or local level, so if there are complaints against them, they may have been filed there.

The information officer of the Ministry of Industry, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Koshi province, Lila Ballav Chapagain, said no complaints had been registered against Pokharel and his wife, Anjala Koirala, at the provincial level.

Chapagain also indicated that the cooperative organization concerned is currently not functional.

UML leader Pokharel, who chairs the public accounts committee of the federal parliament, was also accused of embezzlement of cooperative funds. His wife, Anjala, previously served on the board of directors of the Umagauri Agricultural Cooperative as a director. She is accused of misappropriating Rs 140 million from the organization located at Karsiya Baza in Ward 4 of Dhanpal Nath Rural Municipality in Morang. The cooperative is now defunct.

Pokharel has denied any wrongdoing on his or his wife’s part.

“My wife was only a witness when other people in the cooperative took out loans, but this fact was distorted to cover up the wrongdoing of others,” Pokharel claimed.

“I will defend myself when the new session of Parliament begins. However, I am also open to an investigation if the state agency desires.

Pokharel said that as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, he had raised concerns about corruption in various sectors and claimed that those under investigation had orchestrated a false narrative against him and his wife. He claimed that the CPN (Maoist Center) was orchestrating schemes against him and his wife.

Pokharel’s claims hold water, as he was targeted by the CPN (Maoist Center) amid escalating tensions within the government. In July, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) cut off electricity to six industrial companies that had not paid the tariff for using a dedicated feeder line and main line for ‘electricity. For days, despite a written order from the Electricity Regulatory Commission and verbal instructions from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, NEA chief Kulman Ghising refused to restore power to the six corporations.

After a conflict broke out between NEA chief Ghising and Prime Minister Oli, the Public Accounts Committee, headed by Pokharel, raised the issue of corruption in the NEA. In response, Maoist Center leaders cited allegations of cooperative fraud, suggesting that Pokharel was trying to divert attention away from him.

However, Maoist Center chief Hitraj Pandey says Pokharel and his wife’s involvement in cooperative fraud did not come out of nowhere in the media.

“But we fear that while the current government intends to take action against those who are not in favor of it, it may protect its loved ones,” Pandey told the Post. “Regarding the involvement of Pokharel and his wife in the cooperative fraud case, the special parliamentary commission of inquiry, which submitted its report last month, also mentions them.”

However, the report does not explicitly name Pokharel and his wife.

“As there was no complaint against them, our committee did not investigate Pokharel and his wife,” UML MP Sarita Bhusal, who was a member of the special parliamentary committee on the matter, told the Post. investigation into the cooperative scam.

With no complaints filed against UML MP Pokharel and his wife, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) of the Nepal Police has started investigating the alleged fraud involving the Miteri Credit Union , who is linked to Congress vice-president Dhan Raj Gurung and his ex-wife. , Jyoti Gurung.

CIB spokesperson Hobindra Bogati said they were thoroughly studying the complaint against Miteri cooperatives.

“We are investigating the complaint against the Miteri cooperative, in which Dhanraj Gurung and his ex-wife are allegedly involved,” Bogati told the Post.

After the cooperative’s president, Kumbharaj Gurung, filed a complaint with the Ministry of Cooperatives in August, alleging that Jyoti Gurung, the managing director, had embezzled Rs 12.5 million, Congress vice-president Gurung, was also investigated. Jyoti Gurung is the ex-wife of Dhanaraj Gurung.

Gurung denied his involvement in the scam, arguing that his ex-wife, with whom he no longer has a relationship, had embezzled the money and therefore he could not be held responsible.

Despite Gurung’s claim that he separated from his wife in 2019, Miteri cooperative chairman Kumbharaj said he had filed a complaint against the Gurung duo and informed law enforcement that the lawmaker had continued to repay debts in his wife’s name until last year.

Various copies of the vouchers that Dhan Raj Gurung allegedly used to deposit money into the cooperative’s account have surfaced in various media outlets.

After being accused of embezzlement of cooperative funds, Dhan Raj Gurung, speaking before Parliament on September 10, called for a full investigation to clear his name.

A special parliamentary committee tasked with investigating cooperatives in crisis submitted its report last month. The committee also recommended investigating Gurung and his ex-wife for misuse of cooperative funds.