Complementary Lawsuit Filed Against 19 Individuals in Surya Darshan Cooperative Fraud Case

A complementary lawsuit has been filed at the Kaski District Court against 19 individuals, including GB Rai, for the alleged misuse of funds at the Surya Darshan Cooperative in Pokhara. This follows a previous case related to the cooperative fraud.

The District Government Attorney’s Office filed the supplementary cases on Friday, but the case against five individuals, including Rabi Lamichhane, President of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, and former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, will be filed on Sunday. These individuals are already in police custody in connection with the case.

“We filed additional cases against 19 individuals, including GB Rai, on Friday. However, we couldn’t file the cases against others in time,” said Shanti Devi Sharma, Information Officer at the District Government Attorney’s Office in Kaski. The case against Lamichhane, Joshi, and others involved in the cooperative, such as Ram Bahadur Khanal, Lila Pachhai, and Krishna Gurung, will be officially filed on Sunday, Sharma confirmed.

The fraud case emerged after complaints were filed by depositors of the Surya Darshan Cooperative, leading to the police issuing arrest warrants against the accused on September 10, 2023. The investigation revealed that officials from the cooperative had embezzled Rs. 1.11 billion of depositors’ funds.

The list of individuals whose cases are pending in court includes several key figures such as Vice President Kailash Darlami, Treasurer Kumar Ramtel, former executive Shiva Bahadur Gurung (Mahendra Bhote), and others.

Among the 19 individuals with arrest warrants, many key figures remain absconding, including former cooperative president GB Rai, his brother Bhupendra, current president Than Bahadur Budha, and others such as Dheeraj Kumar Das, Hemant Adhikari, and Pramod Bhattarai. Similarly, loan officer Buddhi Gurung and Srishti Manandhar are also on the run.

Following the police investigation into the alleged embezzlement, a report was submitted to the Government Attorney’s Office on October 3. The office filed the initial case on October 6, and the additional lawsuits were prompted by further complaints.

The accused face charges under the Cooperative Act, with penalties equal to the amount of misappropriated funds, as well as prison sentences ranging from eight to 10 years. The case continues to unfold as more individuals are named in connection with the cooperative fraud.