The police have filed a case in the Patan Appellate Court against 14 individuals, including the promoters of the NB Group, for causing huge losses to now-defunct Nepal Sri Lanka Merchant Bank and Finance Limited (NSLMB) by disbursing loans against the banking norms at a time when the finance company was about to merge with Nepal Bangladesh Bank (NBB).

Among those facing the charge are Laxmi Bahadur Shrestha, key promoter of the NB Group (the chief accused) and loanee Chandi Raj Dhakal, former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

NB Group is one of the main promoters of Nepal Bangladesh Bank and Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank.

The police have already arrested Rubi Joshi, former executive chairman of NSLMB, and former directors Sri Ram Prasad Lamichhane and Gaurishankar Chaudhary.

Other defendants are Purna Bahadur Shrestha, Zen Shrestha and Geeta Shrestha, who are the family members of Laxmi Bahadur Shrestha, and directors Mukunda Acharya and Alija Vaidya. Immediate general manager of NSLMB Khim Bahadur BC has also been named defendant.

Senior Superintendent of Police at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Uttam Bahadur Karki said the police have issued arrest warrants against the accused.

After the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) requested the police to arrest the above mentioned individuals on October 1, the police initiated investigation and nabbed the three persons found directly involved in the fraud, while the rest were charged based on the statement from the arrestees and police investigation findings.

According to charge sheet, loans worth Rs 20.08 million were provided to Dhakal, while his nephew Prakash Raj Ghimire was provided with the equal amount without collateral, although they had demanded only Rs 20 million each. The loans were sanctioned right after the central bank allowed the merger between NSLMB and NBB, both promoted by the NB Group. Providing loans more than loanees’ demand is against banking norms.

NSLMB was also found to have provided loans worth Rs 90 million to Alka Hospital just before the merger. That left NSLMB with no cash and other resources during the merger, even affecting the financial health of NBB that was slowly recovering from crisis.

After the three arrestees told police that they acted as per the direction of Shrestha to provide loans without collateral, the police have been searching his whereabouts.

According to the police, Dhakal had claimed in a letter to CIB that he didn’t receive loans despite making demand. But a police source the investigation proved that Dhakal had received the loans.

Most of the family members of Shrestha have been blacklisted, while Dhakal has also found a space on the blacklist for defaulting loans.

NBB has to recover around Rs 1.5 billion loans from the NB group, provided against the rules under Shrestha’s pressure. Shrestha has also defaulted loans from other banks and financial institutions and has been blacklisted.

Likewise, Dhakal has to pay more than Rs 1.5 billion to Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), Nepal Bangladesh Bank and NCC Bank. According to RBB CEO Krishna Prasad Acharya, Dhakal has not paid installments for the last one and half years, and the bank has put him on the blacklist. RBB was the first bank to provide loans to Dhakal to start Momento Apparel, once one of the largest exporters of the country.

The garment factory had received Rs 80 million from RBB two decades ago and an additional Rs 240 million was added to import raw materials. “However, Momento is yet to pay the principle amount of Rs 320 million,” said Sharma. “The interest alone has amounted to around Rs 1 billion.”

He said the bank would go for further action against Dhakal if he fails to pay the loans or does not come to negotiate with an agreeable plan. NBB is also yet to recover around Rs 220 million from Dhakal, including Rs 200 million taken from NBB itself and Rs 2.08 million from NSLMB, according to a bank source.

Source: The Kathmandu Post