The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has uncovered an embezzlement in the procurement of two wide body airplanes.
Concluding that over Rs 1.471 billion was misappropriated in the purchase of two large airplanes worth about Rs 24 billon, the anti-graft body filed a graft case against 32 individuals including then Tourism Minister Jeevan Bahadur Shahi of Nepali Congress and former Managing Director of Nepal Airlines Corporation, Sugat Ratna Kansakar.
A meeting of the anti-graft body chaired by CIAA chief Prem Kumar Rai this morning decided to file a graft-case against them based on the report of the investigation committee.
The graft case in which 32 individuals including then Tourism Minister Shahi and former MD of Nepal Airlines Corporation, the national flag carrier of the country, Kansakar have been mentioned as defendants, has been sent to the Special Court.
The anti-graft body filed the case against the then deputy general manager of the corporation Ramesh Bahadur Shah, then acting director and senior Captain Rabindra Kumar Sherchan, then acting director Rabindra Shrestha.
Similarly, those facing music include director trio Upendra Paudel, Umesh Paudel, and Shrawan Rijal.
Then NAC acting deputy director Paras Paudel and incumbent deputy director Brihatman Tuladhar have been made defendants in the case.
Jiwan Prakash Sitaula, then executive committee member of the corporation and director general of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation and Achyut Raj Pahadi, then executive committee member of the Civil Avian Authority of Nepal have been implicated in the case.
Similarly, then director general of the Department of Customs and executive committee member Shishir Kumar Dhungana, joint secretary at the Tourism Ministry and then executive committee member Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, the then executive committee members Nimanuru Sherpa, Teknath Acharya, and Muktinath Pandey have been made defendants in the case.
The then acting director of the corporation Ramhari Sedai, the incumbent deputy general manager Janak Raj Kalakheti, the then deputy director Prabash Kumar Acharya have also been tried in the special court in connection with this corruption case.
Similarly, a case has been registered against the then director of the corporation Gane Bahadur Chand, the then acting director Karna Bahadur Thapa and the then director and incumbent senior Captain Subas Rijal in this case.
After the NAC initiated the procurement process of wide body airplanes five years ago, a complaint had been lodged at the CIAA stating that the process breached the existing rules.
The case of alleged corruption, though filed, had remained dormant with the anti-graft body taking no action.
Earlier, the CIAA had called operators of the three foreign companies involved in the procurement process and recorded their statements.
