HED: What follows after arrest warrants against the Deuba couple

DEK: The couple are placed on the fugitive list after the arrest warrents issued on Tuesday. Both are currently abroad.

Krishna Bahab

Kathmandu, April 9

The warrant was issued on Tuesday by a bench of Judge Mahendra Karki based on a letter from the Department of Money Laundering Investigation. Following this development, the Deuba couple have been placed on the fugitive list. However, both are currently abroad.

What does it mean to issue an arrest warrant while they are abroad? How will the investigation against the Deuba couple proceed? And what needs to be done to bring them back to Nepal? The following five questions and answers explain the process.

On what charge has an arrest warrant been issued against the Deuba couple?

An arrest warrant has been issued against the Deuba couple on charges of money laundering. The probe was initiated after the investigating authority found that the movable and immovable assets in their names appeared to have been acquired unusually. During the September Gen Z protests, when Deuba’s residence was attacked, a probe commission led by former judge Gauri Bahadur Karki had also recommended that the government conduct a detailed investigation into the money found there. It is against this backdrop that the arrest warrant has been issued.

How is a money laundering investigation conducted?

A money laundering case is different from a normal criminal case. It mainly seeks answers to three questions: what is the source of the assets? Was the source illegal? And if so, what methods were used to “clean” the assets to make them appear legitimate?

To establish this, police and the department examine banking transactions, analyse details of international transactions, conduct detailed scrutiny of land ownership documents, and question the individuals concerned. Since the Deuba couple are currently abroad, direct questioning is difficult, but the investigation does not stop simply because the individuals are overseas. However, a legal question arises: under the Money Laundering Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2024, money laundering is considered a “by-product” offence arising from a predicate offence rather than an independent crime. There is also an argument that no primary offence has yet been registered against the Deuba couple.

What does issuing an arrest warrant mean?

An arrest warrant is a court-issued permission granted to police or investigative authorities to arrest a person suspected of involvement in a crime. Such permission is issued only when the court finds the basis of the investigation to be legally sound. In the case of the Deuba couple, another reason for issuing the arrest warrant is that, since they are abroad, it paves the way for issuing an Interpol Red Notice to bring them under the scope of investigation. According to a source at the Home Ministry, the arrest warrant is the first formal step towards issuing a Red Notice, and preparations for the process have already begun within the police administration.

What is a Red Notice and how does it work?

Nepal is a member of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol). There are 195 member countries in Interpol worldwide. When a person escapes abroad to evade a criminal investigation, a Red Notice can be issued through Interpol to locate and arrest that person.

In Nepal, the head of the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) is the Inspector General of Police by default. After a case is registered, the investigating authority obtains an arrest warrant from the court and sends the letter along with the warrant through the NCB Secretariat to Interpol. Interpol reviews the details and, if deemed necessary, issues a Red Notice and circulates it to all member countries’ NCBs worldwide. Once a Red Notice is issued, police in member countries such as Singapore are requested to arrest the person if found within their jurisdiction.

However, the issuance of a Red Notice does not automatically mean the Deuba couple will be brought to Nepal. A Red Notice is only an international alert and request, not a mandatory arrest order. Whether Nepal has an extradition treaty with the concerned country is decisive. At present, there is no such treaty between Nepal and Singapore. In addition, whether the charges are political or criminal also affects the decision of the concerned country. Diplomatic relations and the willingness of both governments are also crucial factors. If the concerned country does not agree, bringing them back is not possible. Thus, the Deuba couple’s case may become not only a legal matter but also a diplomatic one.

Will the investigation proceed even if the Deuba couple do not return? What happens next?

According to police officials, the investigation process continues at its own pace, whether the individual is inside or outside the country. In criminal cases, police first attempt to locate and take the accused into custody for investigation. If it is found that the accused has fled abroad, Interpol assistance is sought. Once a case is filed, further legal proceedings continue after the accused appears before the authorities. In the Deuba couple case, the investigating body is likely to move forward with the process of issuing a Red Notice through Interpol. For this, the NCB Secretariat will send a request through the Office of the Inspector General of Police to Interpol. Interpol will then review the request and, if approved, issue the notice and notify all member countries, including Singapore.