Members of the parliamentary special committee investigating crisis-ridden cooperatives doubt that the committee can draw a definite conclusion without arresting Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, who is a prime suspect in the multi-billion rupee scam.

The probe committee’s three-month deadline is approaching fast. Constituted on May 28, the committee has to submit its report within a couple of days.

Though the committee is working to submit the report within the given time, it may not draw a final conclusion on the issue without interrogating Rai, Lekhnath Dahal, a committee member, says. Dahal, however, said that what they can do is to recommend further investigation on Rastriaya Swatantra Party chair Rabi Lamichhane, who is also a former home minister.

“Based on the hours-long interrogation of Lamichhane on Friday, the parliamentary special probe committee can now link his involvement in the cooperative embezzlement,” Dahal told the Post. “While investigating the database in the software of the Gorkha Media Network, including the software used in other related computers, the committee is not in the condition of denying Lamichhane’s guilt, but without statement from Rai, his involvement cannot be further substantiated.”

Rai, who has been absconding since last year, is believed to have fled the country. The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) in January issued a diffusion notice against him. Rai, the founding chairman of Pokhara Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperatives, is accused of embezzling over Rs1 billion.

The committee also found that Gorkha Media Network, where Rai was the chairman and Lamichhane was the managing director before he joined politics in June 2022, had rerouted around Rs1 billion to the media company from various cooperatives based in multiple towns of the country, Dahal, who represents the CPN (Maoist Centre), said.

The parliamentary special probe committee has repeatedly requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to arrest Rai.

All the suspects the probe panel summoned and interrogated over their alleged involvement in rerouting the cooperatives’ money to the Gorkha Media Network pointed their fingers to Rai, so summoning him has become crucial, Dahal added.

Ishawari Devi Neupane, another member of the committee from Nepali Congress, says that though Lamichhane has presented his side of the story, the committee has its own findings based on its months-long investigations.

Lamichhane, who knew about Rai’s two other companies, Nature Nest and Nature Herbs, declined to discuss cooperatives run by his former partner, Rai, during the parliamentary committee’s interrogation on Friday.

“But how is that possible?” questions Neupane while speaking to the Post.

However, Neupane also says that since all the accused ones who the committee interrogated have pointed their fingers at Rai, without his arrest, no final conclusion can be drawn regarding the cooperative scam.

Surya Thapa, chair of the probe committee, denied to disclose anything about the report the committee is preparing.

“The committee has already directed the government to arrest Rai,” Thapa told the Post. The committee’s task of preparing the report and the government performing its duty are two different things, Thapa added.

After interrogating Lamichhane and Chhabilal Joshi, a founder of Gorkha Media Network, the parliamentary special probe committee concluded its interrogation phase on Friday.

As per the committee’s terms of reference, the committee is investigating the scams related to 29 cooperatives. Twenty of them are listed in Schedule 1, while nine are in Schedule 2.

Cooperatives from where the money was rerouted to the Gorkha Media Network come under Schedule 2 of the ToR. They are the Ideal Yamuna Multipurpose Cooperative, the Image Saving and Credit Cooperative, the Sahara Saving and Cooperative, the Samanta Saving and Credit Cooperative, the Sano Paila Saving and Credit Cooperative, the Supreme Saving and Credit Cooperative, the Suryadarshan Saving and Credit Cooperative, the Sumeru Saving and Credit Cooperative, and the Swarnalaxmi Saving and Credit Cooperative.

According to committee members, the preliminary findings of the parliamentary special probe committee investigating crisis-ridden cooperatives suggest that the cooperative sector is on the brink of collapse.

“As the government bodies that were supposed to regulate the cooperative sector failed to efficiently perform their duties, the situation has now gone beyond our control,” a committee member told the Post on the condition of anonymity. The committee has seven members.

“This problem could beleaguer the entire economy if the government does not take proper action on time,” the member added.