KATHMANDU, Oct 13: The Department of Money Laundering Investigation is investigating a former chief justice’s assets for the first time.
The department has stepped up efforts to trace the assets of former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and his associates after receiving information that he was working to influence the case against businessman Deepak Bhatta, who is in custody pending trial on money laundering charges.
Inam Sapkota, identified as a close associate of Rana, has been arrested. Although investigators obtained court permission to hold him over an alleged offense under the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, he is also being investigated for money laundering.
Before Sapkota’s arrest, the department simultaneously raided the homes of Rana and three others on October 7. Among them was Nabin Raj Basnet, whom the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) arrested on Friday at the request of the Kathmandu Division Forest Office.
Basnet had been a fugitive defendant in a case involving 226 kilograms of red sandalwood seized in Guhyeshwari, Kathmandu, in March or April 2013.
Thirteen years ago, Basnet called Bhim Kumar Sunar of Kakurthakur, Sindhuli, saying he needed sand transported. Basnet, who also operated Pepsi Cola Town Planning, instructed Sunar to take sand from Kalinchowk Suppliers to Jorpati.
Sunar agreed and took Nir Bahadur Singh of Sarlahi as his assistant. In his statement, Sunar said Basnet rode a motorcycle ahead of the tipper truck carrying the sand. When the truck reached Guhyeshwari, plainclothes police stopped and searched it, finding red sandalwood concealed beneath the sand.
During questioning, driver Sunar and his assistant Singh identified Basnet as the owner of the consignment. Basnet, however, was not arrested. Police detained Sunar and Singh and took them to the Kathmandu District Police Office.
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The case filed in court on April 22, 2013, named Basnet but did not provide his citizenship details or address.
Sunar had identified Basnet at the time as the man riding ahead of the truck. Yet it remained unclear who allowed him to evade arrest by leaving his identifying details incomplete. The Kathmandu District Court put the proceedings against him on hold, citing the absence of a verified address.
Thirteen years later, the court has revived the forest offense case.
Basnet was arrested after the Department of Money Laundering Investigation supplied his citizenship details and other identifying information. This time, the department, rather than the Kathmandu Division Forest Office, tracked him down.
The court has yet to record his statement in the old case. With courts closed for the Dashain holiday, the hearing will take place after they reopen.
A source associated with the department said investigators would now examine Basnet’s assets and identify those who allegedly supported his illegal dealings.
According to the charge sheet, Basnet’s address was listed as Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward 16 when the case was filed 13 years ago. The department has now established that he lives in Rose Village Colony in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur.
The department itself wrote to the Kathmandu Division Forest Office asking it to revive the case.
On September 22, it sent the forest office details of the old case and requested action. The letter also stated that Basnet had rented the vehicle used to transport the sand.
Following the letter, the forest office asked the CIB on September 29 to arrest him. The bureau arrested Basnet on Friday night and placed him in custody.
Once the courts reopen, proceedings in the red sandalwood case will resume, while the department’s money laundering investigation will continue.
A department source alleged that pressure from CPN-UML leaders had enabled Basnet to evade action in the earlier forest case.
The department suspects that Rana and UML leaders may have made investments in Basnet’s name.
According to a department officer, investigators wanted to arrest Basnet immediately and discovered the old forest case while looking for grounds to do so. By holding him in that case, authorities aim to investigate his assets, political connections and financial dealings.
Sources involved in the investigation said the department expected Basnet to provide information on several matters. Investigators will examine assets and businesses held in his name and those of his relatives.
A department source said the investigation could extend beyond Rana to senior UML leaders.
Basnet is also close to Pradeep Adhikari, who is in custody pending trial over alleged irregularities in the construction of the Nalinchowk heliport.
Basnet allegedly tried to use political influence to settle Adhikari’s case. He was also accused of threatening Prem Kumar Rai, chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
Investigators also found that Basnet had exchanged WhatsApp messages with UML chairman KP Sharma Oli’s personal aide, Rajesh Bajracharya, while promising to help settle the case.
Basnet allegedly assured Adhikari that he could use Bajracharya’s access to Oli to influence the CIAA proceedings. Those efforts did not succeed.
A source said Basnet’s arrest could draw UML leaders into the money laundering investigation. One investigating officer said party leaders had shown considerable concern following his detention.
Through Sapkota and Basnet, authorities are seeking to trace assets linked to Rana as well as senior political leaders, a source claimed. The investigating officer said this was why the 13-year-old case against Basnet had been revived.