KATHMANDU: Kaski District Court has demanded a bail amount of Rs 6.5 million from Rabi Lamichhane, Chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, who is implicated in a cooperative fraud case.
The decision came on Thursday evening following a week-long detention hearing presided over by Judge Nitij Rai.
If Lamichhane posts the bail, he is expected to be released today. However, with other cases still pending in districts like Kathmandu and Chitwan, his legal troubles may not end here, and further arrests could follow.
Lamichhane was arrested on October 18 from Kathmandu and has since been in police custody in Kaski.
He faces charges of cooperative fraud, money laundering, and organized crime. The District Attorney’s Office in Kaski had earlier filed a case against him, seeking a claim of Rs 270 million in damages related to money laundering.
The charges stem from allegations tied to Suryadarshan Cooperative, where Lamichhane is accused of embezzling significant sums from members’ savings.
On December 22, the District Attorney’s Office formally filed the case in Kaski District Court, seeking damages of over Rs 270 million. According to the prosecution, the investigation revealed unexplained sources for Rs 278.9 million, which became the basis for the money laundering allegations.
Despite the hefty claim, the court has set the bail at Rs 6.5 million, paving the way for his conditional release.
The case has drawn significant attention due to Lamichhane’s prominence as a politician and former Home Minister.
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