Kathmandu [Nepal], January 15 : Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday granted bail to former Deputy Prime Minister Rabi Lamichhane for the second time, this time in connection with the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative fraud case.
Lamichhane, who is also the founder of the Rastriya Swantratra Party, was ordered to be released on a bail of (Nepali currency) NRs 6 million. He is accused of misappropriating Rs 1.19 billion from the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative alongside 38 accomplices.
It is the second time that former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Lamichhane has been released from another court in case of cooperative fraud. Lamichhane, also the founder of the Rastriya Swantratra Party had presented himself before the Kathmandu District Court on Sunday morning, three days after his release on bail in similar offences in Pokhara. Kaski District Court
"A single bench of Justice Madhav Prasad Adhikari has ordered his (Lamichhane's) release in bail of 60 lakhs (NRs 6 million)," a spokesperson of the Kathmandu District Court confirmed ANI.
Lamichhane was previously arrested on October 18 in the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case in Pokhara and was released after 84 days upon depositing NRs 6.5 million as bail.
However, he later faced charges related to embezzlement in the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative case, where he and others are accused of misappropriating Rs 1.19 billion from 690 depositors.
"...Since it is not possible to say that he is not guilty in the present incident, taking into account the nature of the present case and the examination of evidence in the course of the proceedings of the case, as determined, for the purpose of trial, the present case shall be remanded in custody for the time being, on the basis of Sections 68 and 72 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 2074 BS, for the purpose of trial, for the present case, the defendant Rabi Lamichhane shall be remanded in custody on the bail of Rs. 60,00,000/- (sixty lakh rupees cash bail or its equivalent in property bail) and shall be kept on file. In addition, in the case of the absconding defendants, an arrest warrant shall be issued by this court and they shall be produced for statement after being arrested," the order states.
Lamichhane is accused of misappropriating Rs1.199 billion from the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative alongside 38 accomplices, including key officials of the Gorkha Media Network including former vice chair Chhabilal Joshi, chair Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, and director Kumar Ramtel. They are accused of illegally diverting the cooperative funds to the media company, which ran now-defunct Galaxy 4K Television. Lamichhane was managing director of the company before joining politics in June 2022.
The charges include cooperative fraud and organised financial crimes, alleging systematic diversion of funds. Police investigations also link the accused to cooperative fraud in Butwal, Chitwan, and Parsa.
Lamichhane, who was previously released on NRs 6.5 million bail by the Kaski District Court in a separate case concerning the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Cooperative, has pledged full cooperation with ongoing investigations.
Police investigations have expanded to include cooperatives in other districts, including Rupandehi, Chitwan, and Parsa. The focus of these investigations is on the systematic embezzlement of funds, which, according to authorities, were misused in a coordinated effort across multiple cooperatives.
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