Loan Embezzlement Episode: NRB freezes bank accounts of Khanal, Dhakal

KATHMANDU, JUN 10 -

The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Sunday froze bank accounts of Gauri Khanal, wife of former Kist Bank Managing director Kamal Gyawali, and Jamko Publication proprietor Kishor Dhakal after they were held on charge of banking offense.

The police have charged of them with embezzling a loan worth Rs 130 million taken from Siddhartha Development Bank. The duo’s arrest forced Gyawali to resign from Kist.

According to central bank officials, it is an issue of insider lending prevailing in the country’s banking system which has emerged as the major challenge to ensure corporate governance.

NRB sources said Dhakal, who does not seem to have the capacity to take the loan, has been found to have taken an additional Rs 120 million loan from Kist too.

Like in the case of the loan taken from Siddhartha, the collateral put up at Kist for the loan is worth just Rs 6.1 million. “We have planned to send the documents related to the additional loans to the Central Investigation Bureau of the Nepal Police this week,” said an NRB official.

According to a central bank official, when the loan was sanctioned, the collateral was valued at Rs 160 million (stocks of goods worth Rs 100 million and land worth Rs 60 million).

“After the collateral was assessed later, it was found that the stocks of goods were worth just Rs 500,000 and the land was worth Rs 5.6 million,” he said.  

Interestingly, it has been found that collateral’s valuation had been done before the loanee sought the loan from Kist. The NRB investigation found that the collateral’s valuation was completed on July 8, 2010, but Dhakal sought the loan on July 12 and was approved on July 15.

According to the central bank source, the NRB has decided to seek clarification from Kist officials involved in sanctioning the loans on why not a fine Rs 500,000 is imposed on them.

The central bank has also decided to send the documents to CIB accusing the loanee of embezzlement.

In case of the loan taken from Siddhartha, the central had suspected insider lending as the loan sanctioned in the name of Dhakal was transferred to Khanal’s account in Prime Commercial Bank. “This shows the loan has been embezzled from the very day it was sanctioned,” said an NRB official.

However, Gyawali has maintained that his wife had sold the land to Dhakal and the same amount was transferred to her account. But the land has been found to have been sold at just Rs 25 million to Dhakal, while Khanal received Rs 130 million.

NRB officials, however, said both the banks were safe.

Central bank sources said as some of the key promoters of both Kist and Siddhartha had been the same in the past, there prevailed cross interest which could have resulted in insider lending.

Earlier, Siddhartha had provided loans worth Rs 150 million to Jeevandhara, a care home for elders promoted by Gyawali. Siddhartha has recovered the amount.

Source: The Kathmandu Post