Police seek action against 35, including lawmaker, over cooperative fund misuse

KATHMANDU: Police have submitted a report recommending charges against 35 individuals, including a lawmaker, for allegedly embezzling funds from the Chhipchhpe Users Cooperative.

The cooperative’s office is located in Kawasoti Municipality-3, Nawalparasi Purba.

The police investigation report, submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, suggests that these individuals embezzled over Rs 166.8 million from depositors’ savings.

Superintendent of Police Narahari Regmi of the District Police Office, Nawalparasi Purba, stated that the report recommends filing charges against several people, including Gita Basnet, a member of the House of Representatives from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party elected from Bardiya.

Others implicated include her brother-in-law Nagendra Babu Rimal, cooperative manager Yogendra Pandey, and cooperative chairperson Gopi Krishna Sharma.

Currently, 10 of the defendants are in police custody, while 25 others, including lawmaker Basnet, are still at large. The police are actively searching for the absconding individuals.

The investigation, conducted by the police and the cooperative registrar’s office, revealed that Yogendra Pandey, who served as the cooperative’s chairperson for seven years, was the mastermind behind the embezzlement. Regmi noted that Pandey issued loans to close associates without any collateral. RSS