IC Misappropriation Scam: Accused released by taking overvalued land as collateral

BIRGUNJ, MAR 18 -

The land put up as collateral by the accused in the Indian Currency (IC) misappropriation scam for their release on bail has been overvalued, it has been found.

The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) had filed a case against the five accused nine months ago seeking a fine of Rs 2.89 billion for misappropriating IC using producing fake customs clearance documents.

A bench of Justice Baidhya Nath Gupta had ordered their release on bail by taking a deposit of Rs 13.3 million. Although the court released them on remand, the accused are said not to be appearing at the court on the set dates.

The accused have put 21 bighas and eight katthas of land at Benighat Ward No 2 in Dhading up as collateral for their release. The land, registered in the name of Rajendra Rijal, is located high up in the hills along the Charaudi Bazaar-Dhusa road some 9km away from the Prithvi Highway. The land has been valued at Rs 550,000 per bigha.

However, local resident Hari Ghale said the land, lying between a deep stream on the left and high hills on the right, has lower market value. The land costs mere Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 per bigha, he said.

As per the records of the Land Revenue Office (LRO), the land plots have not been categorised as cliff. However, VDC secretary Ram Hari Kandel said he recommended the land by accepting revenue as per the rate fixed by the local people.

Kush Dhwoj Khatri, chief of Dhading LRO, said they did the property valuation as per the documents provided by the survey office. “We don’t visit the site for valuation. Rather, our job is only to tally the valuation,” he said, adding a land plot cannot be called cliff if it is registered at the government authority.

Although the LRO maintains the valuation of land located in the South, West and North of Charaundi Bazaar, it does not maintain valuation of the land in the East of the Bazaar.

The registrar at the District Court holds the right to accept property as collateral as per the court’s decision or the order of the court’s working guideline.

Parsa District Court Registrar Khadga Raj Adhikari said he accepted the land as collateral as per the documents provided by the government authority. “If the collateral property, in auction, does not yield the sought bail amount, other fixed property of the accused will be auctioned to raise the required amount,” he said, adding if the accused is acquitted, the collateral property is returned.

According to the court’s order, as less than Rs 10 million was confiscated from the accused and IC was not seized from them, and as they are workers at shops, they are released on bail and subject to further investigation.

The bail amount was fixed at Rs 2.7 million for Arvind Kumar; Rs 3 million for Sandeep Sah; Rs 3.4 million for Sukesh Mishra; and Rs 2.1 million each for Ramesh Kumar and Mukul Mishra for their release. And, they were released by accepting the fixed property worth the bail amount.

The DRI, however, had filed the case seeking fines up to three times the confiscated amount based on the Foreign Exchange Act 17 (1) and (19). The DRI had also demanded a three-year jail term for the accused as the misappropriated amount was more than Rs 10 million.

The district attorney’s office has also filed a case in the appellate court, claiming that the courts’ order was not justifiable.

The IC misappropriation scam came to light after the police arrested five Indians with Rs 7.5 million, receipt of deposits worth Rs 2.2 million put in NIC Bank and nine counterfeit customs declaration certificates on September 2, 2011.

Police investigation found that five firms sent IRs 1.25 billion to India through demand drafts by producing fake customs clearance documents. The accused used 2,424 units of fake certificates. It was also found that the sent amount was withdrawn in Indian banks and was sold in the black market at higher exchange rates.

Following the revelation, the DRI had barred Birgunj- and Simara-based branch offices of eight commercial banks from carrying out IC transaction for three months.

Source: The Kathmandu Post