ITAHARI: Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City has formed a three-member committee to investigate the embezzlement of over Rs 8 million by a school principal.
The committee is led by Accounts Officer Lakhan Chaudhary, with Administration Officer Sanjeev Khadka and Legal Officer Kamal Raj Pokharel as members.
Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City was supposed to deposit Rs 736,663 into the account of Shanti Sirjana Secondary School for the salary of three months and Dashain allowance for seven school teachers for the fiscal year 2022/23. However, a municipality staffer mistakenly credited Rs 8,824,243 into the account.
The school principal, Kamal Timsina, was aware of the large sum credited to the school’s account which he manages. Instead of reporting it to the municipality, he spent the entire amount.
Chaudhary said the investigation has already begun. “We are currently studying the documents. We have also asked the Education Department to explain the situation through a letter,” he said. “The documents related to the principal’s case are being reviewed.”
According to Chaudhary, the committee will submit its report by August 15.
The incident came to light only after an internal audit of the sub-metropolitan city detected the overpayment 22 months after the amount was deposited into the school’s account.
Principal Admits Mistake
Principal Timsina initially tried to cover the incident up. However, he admitted his mistake once the news broke and the school management committee was informed.
In a meeting with the school management committee, representatives of the parents and other stakeholders, Timsina acknowledged his mistake and admitted to spending Rs 8 million at his discretion.
“I made a mistake. Please save my position and job,” he pleaded in the meeting.
The school management committee and the teachers and staff only learned about the overpayment and arbitrary spending by the principal after the news broke, according to Ramtul Miyan, the chairperson of the management committee. “Our committee was formed 16 months ago. The money was credited to the school’s account managed by the principal 22 months ago. But the committee was not informed about it,” Miyan said. “The principal had been spending without making any decisions. We only found out through the media.”
When the school management committee asked Principal Timsina for clarification, he said he would take responsibility. “The principal has said he will take responsibility for this himself. This is a big scandal. The management committee is taking this very seriously,” Miyan added.
The committee has decided not to allow Principal Timsina to discharge his responsibilities until the incident is resolved.
Santosh Sardar, the school’s accounting assistant, said he had no information about how such a large sum was credited to the school’s account or how it was spent. “I look after the school’s accounts, but I didn’t know about the money coming from the sub-metropolitan city, where it went, or how,” he said. “I only found out after the news broke.”
Sardar said it was mysterious how the money was withdrawn without his signature.
Sources claim that Principal Timsina may have forged signatures to misappropriate the funds.
