KATHMANDU: The statements of seven people, including Rabi Lamichhane, President of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who was arrested in the cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering case were concluded on Tuesday at the Kaski District Court.
At the bench of District Judge Nitij Rai, the statements of Rabi, owner of Gorkha Media Network, Chhabilal Joshi, GB's Sajhador Leela Pachain, Nature Herbs owner Ram Bahadur Khanal, former MP Meena Gurung, former treasurer Aarti Gurung, and former owner Krishna Bahadur Gurung have been recorded.
With the completion of the statements of all the defendants, the closed arguments have begun from today. The government prosecutor's office, Kaski, registered a case against 44 people, including Lamichhane and Chhabilal Joshi on the charge of cooperative fraud.
The police investigation concluded that the group, including Ravi Lamichhane and GV Rai, embezzled 1.51 billion from Suryadarshan Cooperative.
The police claim that Suryadarshan's deposit of 54.8 million was taken to Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd. and embezzled it. President Lamichhane was arrested in Kathmandu on November 20 on charges of embezzling the cooperative's savings.
The government prosecutor and defense lawyers began their arguments on Tuesday after the statements concluded.
The government prosecutor’s office has filed charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering against Lamichhane and others. A supplementary charge sheet was also filed last Friday, bringing additional accusations against 19 individuals, including GB Rai.
The police had advised charges against 65 individuals, but the government attorney’s office has filed a case by reducing the number of defendants to 44. Five individuals are being charged solely for the purpose of property confiscation.
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