Depositors file complaint against Oracle Savings
KATHMANDU, MAY 11 -
Cooperatives have been biting the dust due to their shenanigans in a trend that has rocked the country’s financial sector. In the latest incident, Oracle Savings and Credit Cooperative has got into trouble putting the savings of its 1,300 members at risk.
The cooperative has become unable to repay its depositors prompting them to seek legal intervention.
Around 35 depositors of Oracle have filed complaints against it at the Division Cooperatives Office (DCO), Kathmandu for not returning their deposits. As per the depositors, they are in danger of losing their savings worth a total of Rs 150 million.
The DCO received the first complaint against Oracle on April 12, and on April 21, it wrote to the Metropolitan Police Range (MPR), Kathmandu to take action against it.
The depositors have accused the cooperative’s chairman of embezzling their money and shutting down its office at Putali Sadak. “After receiving a series of complaints against Oracle, we have written to the police office to investigate the board members,” said Krishna Prasad Sharma, senior officer at the DCO. Oracle’s chairman Yuga Dip Sharma Ghimire is reported to be at large. The vice-chairman Pradeep Sharma, treasurer Bishnu Acharya and board member Binit Kumar Rauniyar, among others, are also reported to be out of contact. According to MPR spokesperson deputy superintendent of police Chakra Bahadur Singh, they have also received five to six individual complaints and have launched a probe.
Depositors have complained that they have not been able to get their principal back for more than a year. According to the DCO, the depositors started legal proceedings after Oracle stopped paying them interest on their deposits four months ago.
The cooperative has been offering a high interest rate of 16.5 percent on one-year fixed deposits. Oracle has a share capital of Rs 4.4 million, and has not submitted its annual report to the DCO for the last two years.
A string of savings and credit cooperatives like Oriental, Guna, Exim, Ugrachandi and Corona have fallen into a crisis due to their excess investment in the realty sector. The depositors of these cooperatives are still trying to get their money back.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
