The parliamentary special committee formed to probe the cooperatives scam has said Rastriya Swatantra Party chair Rabi Lamichhane gave it false information when the panel last month interrogated him over his alleged involvement in misappropriating depositors’ money.

According to the probe report made public on Friday, former home minister Lamichhane lied to the panel about his financial role in the Gorkha Media Network that operated the now-defunct Galaxy 4k Television, where he was the managing director before joining politics in June 2022.

The committee looked into the misuse of cooperatives funds by various individuals, firms and groups. The committee found that the Gorkha Media Network, co-founded and jointly run by GB (Gitendra Babu) Rai and Lamichhane, had gathered over Rs650 million from various cooperatives. Inquiry committee members said the media company was run entirely with the money sourced from several cooperatives.

“Though then-managing director of Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd Rabi Lamichhane told the committee during the interrogation that Chairman Gitendra Babu Rai was solely responsible for financial transactions, the details provided to the committee show that Rabi Lamichhane was the one who made the transactions,” said the committee report. The committee has attached the details of 16 cheques signed by Lamichhane.

The report states that the media company operators had wantonly spent the money they received from several cooperatives. “Hence, it is proven that the board members had embezzled the money of various cooperatives by misusing their powers to take big loans from there and to provide them to the [media] company,” the report concludes.

“[TV] programmes and news were my responsibility and I concentrated on the same. GB Rai shouldered all the responsibility of the financial arrangements,” Lamichhane reportedly said, answering the committee’s 13th question. The committee asked him a total of 51 questions during a 10-hour-long interrogation on August 23.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) in January issued a diffusion notice against GB Rai, who has been accused of embezzling over Rs1 billion. Rai, who chaired several cooperatives, has been on the run. According to multiple probe reports, Rai arranged nearly a billion rupees from several cooperatives to run the media company.

The committee interrogated over 50 individuals in the course of its investigation into the embezzlement of billions of rupees deposited by common people across the country.

Other office bearers of various cooperatives, who were interrogated, tried similar tactics to establish their innocence.

Asked about their involvement in some transactions, most of them gave similar answers, saying they were unaware of such financial deals.

The House inquiry brought Kumar Ramtel, who is in judicial custody in a Kaski jail on charges of embezzling millions of rupees from various cooperatives, to Kathmandu for interrogation.

Ramtel, who is treasurer at the Suryadarshan Savings and Cooperative, secretary at the Samanata Savings and Credit Cooperative and treasurer at Swarnalaxmi Multiple Cooperative, told the committee that he was ‘just a dummy treasurer’ and learned about the fake accounts created in his name only later. He gave the details of how several big transactions were made through fake documents created in his name.

Ramtel also claimed that some of the money was transferred in the name of Lamichhane using his account. He said the person named Rabi Lamichhane—whose name appears on various questionable documents—is none other than former deputy prime minister and home minister and the two discussed the transfer. “Then, he [Lamichhane] said that he has already talked to GB Rai in this connection,” the committee report quotes Ramtel as saying.

Many other individuals the committee questioned gave similar answers.

The committee has also asked the authorities to investigate the complaint filed against Nepali Congress Vice-president Dhan Raj Gurung, who is accused of embezzling deposits from Miteri Saving and Credit Cooperative. Lawmaker Gurung claims innocence saying that he cannot be held accountable for the dubious transactions made in the name of Joyti, his ex-wife affiliated with the cooperative.

Speaking in the House earlier this month, Gurung asked the authorities to investigate the matter. The complainant accused Gurung of preparing forged documents to prove his divorce with her only to evade his liability for the loan from the cooperative.

The committee submitted a 1,124-page report to the House of Representatives on Monday. Speaker Devraj Ghimire forwarded the report to the government. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday decided to implement its recommendations.

In its suggestions, the committee has asked the government to form a powerful authority within three months to regulate cooperatives across the country. The proposed authority would give licences to cooperatives, regulate them and take action against the ones that breach laws and regulations.

The cooperatives having total assets worth over Rs250 million should take permission from the authority within six months of the formation of such a body. With the powerful authority in place, the National Cooperatives Development Board and the Cooperatives Department should be dissolved, it says.

“The Nepal Rastra Bank and the Cooperatives Department should jointly monitor big cooperatives until the authority is formed,” it says.

Establishing a loan information centre, debt recovery tribunal and insurance of deposits are other recommendations.

The report also suggests the government should return depositors’ money by selling the cooperatives’ institutional assets in the first phase. If the institutional assets are insufficient, then the money should be managed by selling the properties of those who operated them.