Bhattachan held on fraud charge

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Oct. 30: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has arrested Devi Prakash Bhattachan, Director of Prabhu Group and former Member of Parliament, on charges of fraud, criminal breach of trust, illicit financial gain, and violation of the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002.

According to the CIB, Bhattachan was apprehended on Tuesday from Taukhel, Godawari Municipality–3 in Lalitpur, in connection with a complaint filed by Thakur Prasad Manandhar and others. The Bureau had been conducting an investigation into the case prior to his arrest. He was also a former lawmaker from CPN-UML. 

The CIB stated that Prabhu Money Transfer, which holds a remittance business licence issued by Nepal Rastra Bank, had appointed Prabhu Management as a ‘super-agent’. However, despite remittance payments being made through various cooperatives under this agreement, the company allegedly failed to return the funds owed to those cooperatives. 

More than three dozen cooperative institutions are reported to have filed complaints regarding the matter.

Following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the Kathmandu District Court based on these complaints, the CIB took 62-year-old Bhattachan into custody for further investigation, according to SSP Shiva Kumar Shrestha, Spokesperson for the CIB.

According to SSP Shrestha, Prabhu Management Pvt. Ltd. was appointed as a super-agent, and on its behalf, the then Managing Director Kusum Lama entered into agreements with various cooperative institutions across the country to conduct remittance transactions.

Police investigation further found that the Prabhu Management Pvt. Ltd. acted contrary to Clause No. 9 of the Nepal Rastra Bank Remittance Regulations, which came into effect on January 27, 2023. The clause requires a company handling inward remittance transactions to make payments to the concerned recipients (beneficiaries) either directly or through its appointed sub-agents or representatives.

Contrary to these regulations, various cooperative institutions across the country that had been appointed as sub-agents of Prabhu Management Pvt. Ltd. made remittance payments to the beneficiaries. However, according to the police, Prabhu Money Transfer Pvt. Ltd. Chairman Bhattchan and others misappropriated the funds and failed to reimburse the respective cooperative institutions through Prabhu Management Pvt. Ltd.