Verdict to transfer NRB's $1m to US bank vacated

KATHMANDU, Sept 3:

A US court has vacated its earlier verdict of debiting US$ 1 million from the account of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to the Standard Chartered Bank´s New York branch in connection to a money laundering case involving a Chinese citizen dating back to 2008.

NRB had seized the amount sent by Chase Manhattan Bank of the US to Chinese national Wu Lixiang´s account at the Bhaisepati branch of the Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd on July 27, 2008. The central bank had frozen Lixiang´s account suspecting linkage of the money with the multi-million dollar Sudan scam and referred the case to the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) for further investigation.

Ashim Khatri Chhetri of Tarala International, US had subsequently filed a lawsuit at the court in 2010, claiming that the money sent to the account of Lixiang by his company was illegally frozen by the NRB. Chhetri had made NRB, NBBL and DRI as defendants in his lawsuit.

“Finally the verdict has come our way. We have been able to get our money back,” Maha Prasad Adhikari, deputy governor of NRB, told Republica on Wednesday.

Hari Nepal, assistant director at Financial Information Unit of NRB, said the petitioner had initially misled the US court by presenting NRB as a commercial bank.

NRB had appealed to the US court in 2010, arguing that it had frozen the account as per the law of the land and that the case was sub judice in the Special Court on money laundering charges.

“NRB with the support of US government was earlier able to get stay order on transfer of the money to the US bank as the money had already gone into the agency account,” Nepal said. “The court on Wednesday vacated its earlier verdict to debit $1 million to the account of the Standard Chartered Bank´s New York Branch following the appeal by NRB back in 2010.”

NRB and other defendants, as per the consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other concerned stakeholders, had refused to present its opinion in the case despite the US court´s show cause notice, saying that the sovereign country was not required to furnish clarification on the issue which was under investigation in money laundering case.
The court had given the verdict to debit the money without hearing the opinion of the defendants.

The Special Court had convicted Lixiang for money laundering back in 2011, slapping a one-year jail term and a fine of Rs 67.45 million.

Source: Republica