Following Rabi Lamichhane’s arrest, calls are increasing for ruling party leaders to be investigated over cooperative fraud

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

Supporters of Lamichhane took to the streets in Kathmandu and Pokhara, demanding the arrest of Gurung and Pokharel. They held placards with the names of Lamichhane, Gurung and Pokharel and asked if the ruling party MPs would also be arrested.

Lamichhane is currently in the custody of the Kaski District Police Office after a complaint was lodged against him for allegedly embezzling funds from Suryadarshan Cooperative Society in Pokhara. He is also being investigated for organized crime.

However, the Cooperative Ministry said no complaints had been lodged about 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 cooperative department, 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.”

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

Chapagain also said that the cooperative organization in question is currently not functional.

UML boss Pokharel, chairman of the federal parliament’s budget committee, is also accused of embezzling cooperative funds. His wife Anjala previously served as a director on the board of the Umagauri Agricultural Cooperative. She is accused of embezzling Rs 140 million from the organization based at Karsiya Baza in Ward 4 of Dhanpal Nath Rural Municipality in Morang. The cooperative has now been dissolved.

Pokharel has denied any wrongdoing by him or his wife.

“My wife was merely a witness when some other members of the cooperative took loans, but this fact was distorted to cover up the wrongdoing of others,” Pokharel alleged.

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

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

Pokharel’s claim has some validity as he was targeted by the CPN (Maoist Centre) amid escalating tensions within the government. In July, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) suspended six industrial companies that had not paid the tariff for using a special supply and transmission line for electricity. For days, NEA chief Kulman Ghising refused to hand back power to the six companies despite a written order from the Electricity Regulatory Commission and verbal instructions from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

After a clash arose 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 raised allegations of cooperative fraud, suggesting that Pokharel was trying to divert attention from him.

However, Hitraj Pandey, chairman of the Maoist Center, says Pokharel and his wife’s involvement in the cooperative scam did not surface in the media by chance.

“But we fear that as the current government intends to crack down on those not in its favor, it may protect those close to it,” Pandey told the Post. “Regarding the involvement of Pokharel and his wife in the cooperative fraud case, the Parliamentary Special Inquiry Committee, which submitted its report last month, also mentions them.”

However, the report does not specifically mention Pokharel and his wife by name.

“As there were no complaints against them, our committee did not initiate any investigation against Pokharel and his wife,” UML lawmaker Sarita Bhusal, who was a member of the parliamentary special inquiry committee into the cooperative scam, told the Post.

As no complaint has been lodged against UML lawmaker Pokharel and his wife, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police has started investigating the alleged fraud related to Miteri Savings and Credit Cooperative, which is associated with Congress vice-president Dhan Raj Gurung and his former wife, Jyoti Gurung.

CIB spokesman Hobindra Bogati said they were investigating the complaint against Miteri Cooperatives in detail.

“We are investigating the complaint against Miteri Cooperative allegedly involving Dhanraj Gurung and his former wife,” Bogati told the Post.

After cooperative chairman Kumbharaj Gurung filed a complaint with the cooperative ministry in August alleging that Jyoti Gurung, the managing director, had embezzled Rs 12.5 million, Congress vice-president Gurung also came under scrutiny. Jyoti Gurung is the former wife of Dhanaraj Gurung.

Gurung has denied his involvement in the fraud, arguing that his former wife, with whom he is no longer in a relationship, embezzled the money and therefore he cannot be held responsible.

Despite Gurung’s claim that he separated from his wife in 2019, Miteri Cooperative Chairman Kumbharaj reported that he had filed a complaint against the Gurung duo and informed law enforcement agencies that the lawmaker was resolving the debt in his wife’s name until last year continued to pay.

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

After being charged with embezzlement of the cooperative’s funds, Dhan Raj Gurung, in a speech to Parliament on September 10, called for a proper investigation to clear his name.

A special parliamentary inquiry committee set up to investigate the troubled cooperatives submitted its report last month. The committee also recommended that Gurung and his former wife be investigated for misuse of the cooperative’s funds.