KATHMANDU: The District Police Office, Kaski, has recommended former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Rabi Lamichhane, face prosecution on charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering.
The police investigation has also implicated former DIG Chhabilal Joshi and GB Rai in the case.
The investigation report, submitted to the District Government Prosecutor’s Office, names Lamichhane, Joshi, Rai, and 48 others as defendants in the embezzlement case involving the Surya Darshan Cooperative in Pokhara.
Out of the 51 accused, 37 remain absconding. Police have recommended recovering over Rs 1.51 billion from the defendants.
According to DSP Basanta Kumar Sharma, the investigation report, which spans 600 pages, outlines punishments for the charges against all the accused.
The District Attorney’s Office, led by Attorney Mamta Kafle, confirmed the receipt of the report and will review it before taking the case to court within the stipulated deadline.
Lamichhane was arrested on October 18 following a parliamentary investigation that found him guilty of misappropriating cooperative funds.
The committee, led by UML lawmaker Surya Bahadur Thapa, concluded that Lamichhane had illegally invested funds from five cooperatives—Surya Darshan, Sahara, Supreme, Hamro Sanopaila, and Swarna Lakshmi—into Galaxy Television while serving as its managing director.
Both Lamichhane and Joshi remain in police custody, with the legal deadline for filing the case set for this Friday.
Lamichhane has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that he was not a member of the cooperatives involved.
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