Lamichhane completes recording his statement

POKHARA: Former Home Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane has completed recording his statement in cases related to cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering.

Lamichhane provided his statement on Thursday and Friday before Kaski District Court Judge Nitij Rai. According to Court Registrar Rajan Khanal, Lamichhane’s statement was recorded from 1 pm to 5 pm on Friday.

Sources at the district court revealed that Lamichhane denied all charges mentioned in the charge sheet. In his statements to government attorneys across multiple districts, including Kaski, he consistently maintained that he is a victim of political vendetta and has no involvement in cooperative fraud or related activities.

Lamichhane was arrested in Kathmandu on October 18 on charges of misappropriating funds from the Pokhara-based Surya Darshan Cooperative. He has been in Kaski police custody for approximately 70 days, facing charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering.

The court will now proceed with recording statements from the remaining four defendants. Former DIG Chabilal Joshi, former Gorkha Media Network director, and Lila Pachai from Musikot Municipality-4, Gulmi, have already recorded their statements.

Statements from defendants Ram Bahadur Khanal, Krishna Bahadur Gurung, former lawmaker Mina Gurung, and Aarti Gurung are yet to be recorded. According to District Government Attorney Kamala Kafle, Ram Bahadur Khanal’s statement is scheduled for Sunday.

The cooperative fraud case related to Surya Darshan Cooperative has been under consideration at Kaski District Court since last year. On October 4, 2023, a charge sheet was filed against 19 defendants, including the cooperative’s founding Chairperson GB Rai.

The Kaski District Government Attorney’s Office recently filed a supplementary charge sheet, adding 44 new defendants, including RSP President Lamichhane and former DIG Joshi. The prosecution also seeks the confiscation of assets from five additional individuals.

The case involves a claimed amount of Rs 1.51 billion.

Following the completion of statements from all defendants, the district court will proceed with detention hearings.