Special Court sentences 85 persons including senior bank officials in bank scam
The Special Court on Sunday convicted 85 persons, including some former high-ranking officials of the Nepal Bank Limited, in four separate cases filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) five years ago.
A three-member panel of Special Court Judges Govinda Prasad Parajuli, Rana Bahadur Bam and Bhoopdhoj Adhikary convicted the then General Manager (GM) of Nepal Bank Limited, Sher Bahadur Thapa, along with other former bank officials and businessmen of misappropriating millions in four bank dealings. The CIAA had sought the court’s order in recovering Rs 530 million from the 142 accused. The Court however gave clean cheat to 57 others.
The court has slapped eight-year imprisonment and Rs. 20,000 fine on the GM Thapa. In addition, the court has decided that if the misappropriated amount could not be recovered from the debtors it would be recouped from Thapa himself.
He was given two-year terms in each of the cases and was asked to pay a total fine of Rs 20,000.
The court also convicted businessmen from the Acharya, Shahani, Gadtaula and Malla groups in the scam.
Some businessmen of the Acharya group were convicted for amassing Rs 210 million, Shahani group for Rs 190 million, Gadtaula group for Rs 96 million and Malla group for Rs 20 million.
The court handed down one-year jail terms on former bank officials Purusottam Prasad Shrestha and Uttam Kumar Nepal respectively, nine-month-term on Rajani Lochan Prasad Tandukar and six-month term on Krishna Prasad Karanjit. Thirty-six other former officials were fined. The court slapped five thousand rupees fine each to all bank officials.
The court has also slapped six months to two years of imprisonment and fine worth two thousand five hundred to five thousand rupees to a number of persons associated with the four groups involved in the irregularities.
The Court however gave clean cheat to the then members of the board of directors of the bank Dr Prafulla Kumar Kafle, Dr Bishwombhar Pyakuryal, Mukunda Prasad Aryal, Jharendra Shumsher Rana and then general manager of the bank Gauri Lal Shrestha, former general managers Bhawani Devi Sharma and Bhava Nath Upadhyaya and GM of Nepal Insurance Company Limited Divya Kumar Adhikary. nepalnews.com pb Oct 31 05
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