Rastriya Swatantra Party chair and former home minister Rabi Lamichhane was brought back to Pokhara on Friday as part of the ongoing cooperatives fraud investigation.

Lamichhane, who is in Kaski police custody, had been transferred to Rupandehi on November 12 to record his statement. He was flown back to Pokhara, according to spokesperson of the Kaski District Police Office Basanta Kumar Sharma. Police in Kaski and Rupandehi districts have been investigating multiple fraud charges filed against RSP chief Lamichhane.

The investigation centres around allegations of large-scale embezzlement from the Kaski-based Supreme Cooperative, involving Rs780 million of members’ deposits. Lamichhane is accused of misappropriating Rs19.6 million in personal loans from the cooperative, which were allegedly diverted to Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd, a company he co-founded.

Lamichhane was taken to Bhairahawa on Tuesday for questioning, where police worked to expedite the recording of his statement. The case involves multiple individuals, including Supreme Cooperative’s manager Sagar KC and former chairman GB Rai, with over 25 suspects still at large.

Lamichhane’s political career, which began in 2022 after leaving his role as managing director of Galaxy 4K Television, now faces significant challenges as the investigation unfolds.

Police stepped up the investigation as per the recommendations by the Parliamentary special probe panel formed to investigate the issues of crisis-ridden cooperatives including the charges of cooperatives frauds against Lamichhane.