Former Nepal Bank Chairman Dr. Chandrabahadur Adhikari Convicted in Bribery Case
The Special Court has convicted former Nepal Bank Limited Chairman Dr. Chandrabahadur Adhikari in a bribery case related to loan facilitation. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed six separate cases against him, of which he was fully convicted in two and partially in two others.
Kathmandu — Nepal Bank Limited's then Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Chandrabahadur Adhikari, has been convicted in a bribery case. The Special Court on Monday found him guilty. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed six separate cases against Adhikari on charges of taking bribes from businessmen in exchange for facilitating loans. Of these, he was fully convicted in two cases and partially convicted in two others. After evidence of him taking bribes was found, Nepal Rastra Bank also took action against him.
50 million rupee bribe for facilitating a 250 million rupee loan
The CIAA filed the case after it was found that Adhikari had demanded a bribe of two percent of the loan amount, i.e., 5 million rupees, for facilitating a 250 million rupee loan to Akala Devi Traders. The task of collecting money from debtors Dan Bahadur Karki, Sundar Bahadur Baniya, and Narayan Prasad Baral was carried out through Santosh Suvedi. In the first phase, 7 million rupees in bribes was deposited into a bank account. Of that, 5 million rupees was transferred through various individuals' accounts to Adhikari's wife's account and later deposited into Adhikari's own account, as revealed by the investigation.
5 million rupees passed through nine stages to reach Adhikari's account
Before the 5 million rupees of the bribe reached Adhikari's account, the amount was transferred in nine stages. The money originating from the debtors was routed through various individuals' bank accounts and ultimately deposited into Adhikari's account. The investigation notes that this process took about one month to complete.
The remaining 4.5 million rupees was attempted to be given through two checks of 3 million and 1.5 million rupees. The checks for 3 million and 1.5 million rupees issued by the debtors were delivered to Adhikari through various individuals.
Businessmen filed a complaint after not receiving the loan
The agreement for the bribe with Adhikari was made. However, due to collateral valuation, the loan was not provided as demanded. After not receiving the loan, the businessmen demanded the return of the money and checks they had given. But when the money and checks were not returned, they filed complaints with senior bank officials and Nepal Rastra Bank as well. Subsequently, Nepal Rastra Bank investigated Adhikari.
During the investigation, after it was proven that Adhikari had taken bribes, he was fined 5 million rupees and removed from the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nepal Bank, limited to being a member. Adhikari had also taken a bribe for facilitating a loan to Himal-Tarai Construction, owned by Rajman Tamang of Kavre. He had demanded a 6 million rupee bribe for facilitating a 60 million rupee loan from Nepal Bank and had already received a 5 million rupee check. In this case, both Adhikari and businessman Rajman Tamang have been convicted.
Allegation of 19 million rupee bribe in a 1.77 billion rupee loan
Adhikari, who took bribes at every opportunity, had demanded a 19 million rupee bribe for facilitating a loan of 1.77 billion rupees. The Radisson Project under Bhusal Hospitality in Belahiya, Rupandehi, had initiated the process to obtain a loan of more than 1.77 billion 290 million rupees from Nepal Bank. For this, he demanded a 19 million rupee bribe for facilitating the loan. In this process, the investigation revealed that he took the bribe through two checks of 7 million and 13 million rupees.