Depositors in lurch as Kathmandu co-op shuts down Birgunj branch

BIRGUNJ, Dec 4:

The depositors of Nepal Sahakari Sanstha Ltd have been left in lurch after the cooperative shut down its branch office at Bhanu Marga in Birgunj-10 without notifying them.

According to Arun Basnet, officiating chief of Division Cooperatives Office, Birgunj, the cooperative headquartered in Bagbazar, Kathmandu was operating its branch office in Parsa after getting approval from the Department of Cooperatives.

"The cooperatives shut its branch office without returning deposits worth around Rs 4 million collected from more than 1,000 depositors," Shyam Kumar Chaudhary, a local staffer, said. "Locals are approaching us to get their money as we are the local staff."

The cooperative had promised interest return of 6 to 9 percent to the locals.

"The cooperative was reluctant to pay me the interest amount. I managed to withdraw some amount, but it cooperative still owes me Rs 12,000," Madhusudan Jaiswal, one of the depositors, told Republica. "Many depositors are still to get their hard-earned money back."

The depositors were shocked when the cooperative, which had been dillydallying on returning depositors´ money, shut its branch office on October 17 by handing over office equipment and furniture to the house owner. Dharmendra Gurung, managing director of the cooperative, had written a letter to the house owner, requesting him to waive off the rent worth around Rs 100,000 and accept office equipment instead.

Gurung told Republica that the cooperative was yet to pay Rs 3.4 million to the local depositors. "Out of our total Rs 8.4 million liabilities, we have already settled Rs 5 million. We were forced to shut down our branch office after the Department of Cooperatives directed us to work only in the area where it is registered," he said, adding, "It´s not that we have decamped with depositors´ money."

Gurung claimed only the large depositors are still to be paid.

SOurce: Republica