The Nepal Rastra Bank purchased 375.6 kg of gold which were seized in the last five years by the government authorities including police.

The central bank, as the custodian of the government’s treasury, purchases all confiscated gold and deposits it in the treasury.

“We purchased 375.6 kg of gold that was seized by various government agencies since the fiscal year 2018-19,” said Thaneshwar Acharya, director at the Mint Division (Currency Management Department) of the central bank.

The gold includes those confiscated by customs for importing in excess of the permitted limit, smuggled gold, and gold connected to money laundering, among others.

Acharya said 375.6 kg does not include the gold seized by the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) on July 18. Once the NRB buys such gold, it becomes part of the government’s treasury.

On July 18, the DRI, had seized a huge quantity of smuggled gold, estimated to be over 100 kg, from a taxicab at Sinamangal, Kathmandu after the gold passed the airport customs undetected. The gross weight of the seized consignment, which included motorcycle brake shoes and electric shavers, was 155kg.

The seized consignment was wax-sealed and sent to the Mint Division for determining the actual weight. But the division has yet to melt the gold due to the absence of a written request from the DRI.

“We will also buy the recently seized gold, once it is melted and its actual weight determined,” said Acharya. “We buy such gold by paying five percent more than the international price on the given day.”

According to the Working Procedure on Purchases, Minting and Sale of Gold, Silver and Other Metals 2019, the central bank can buy the gold and other valuable metals from other public offices if requests are made.

Before purchasing such gold from other public offices, the gold is melted in the presence of representatives from internal audit and financial management departments of the central bank and a representative from the public office concerned, and the price is fixed after checking the purity of the metal, the working procedure states.

“Regarding the gold seized last month, we are awaiting a written request from the DRI to melt the gold,” said Acharya.

Nawaraj Adhikari, information officer at the DRI, said that his office’s current priority has been to identify the owner of the smuggled gold, hence the issue of melting the gold has taken a backseat.

“The gold should be melted in the presence of the DRI officers involved in the seizure, but their current priority is on investigation,” he said.

The DRI has so far arrested 18 people in connection with last month’s seizure. It also raided a factory at Tokha in Kathmandu which was suspected to have been used for melting smuggled gold. Likewise, it raided the warehouse of Ready Trade, a private firm, at Sorhakhutte, Kathmandu and seized 66 boxes of motorcycle brake shoes. It also raided the house of Rakesh Kumar Adukia, one of the prime suspects in the gold smuggling case.

“We have so far arrested people involved in the first layer of smuggling,” said Nawa Raj Dhungana. “Some are the dummy owners of companies involved in gold smuggling, but we are searching for the real owners.”