Several prominent businesspersons have been linked to an alleged share trading scheme involving controversial businessmen Deepak Bhatta and Sulav Agrawal, who are currently in police custody in a money laundering probe.

According to an investigation and supervision report prepared by the Securities Board of Nepal, five individuals—Bhatta, Shubhi Agrawal (wife of Sulav), Raj Bahadur Shah, managing director of Jawalakhel Group of Industries, and businessmen Rishi Raj More and Sandip Chachan—are accused, while seven individuals and institutions have been identified as facilitators.

The report, made public on Tuesday by the online portal Kathmandu Pati, names former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Shekhar Golchha, vice-chairperson of Ramesh Corp Rohit Gupta, and institutions including Himalayan Reinsurance Limited, Himalayan Capserv, Himalayan Securities Limited, HLI Large Cap Fund and Nepal Micro Insurance Company Limited as facilitators.

As no shares were found to have been purchased in Sulav’s name, he is not listed among the accused or facilitators in this report. However, a separate investigation by the board has found him guilty and recommended action.

On March 9, 2026, the Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DMLI) sought details of Bhatta’s share transactions from the Board. Based on this directive, the Board conducted its probe and submitted the report to the relevant investigative agencies for further action.

Who did what?

Deepak Bhatta:
Bhatta is accused of buying shares on credit from Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company (Broker No. 55), settling and clearing the shares through the broker into his DEMAT account without making payment, thereby artificially increasing share prices by purchasing large volumes of shares on credit, engaging in insider trading, and conducting fictitious transactions. From July 21, 2025, to March 15, 2026, Bhatta purchased shares worth Rs3.80 billion and sold shares worth Rs930.59 million. In this period, the broker did not receive any payment from Bhatta. Even now, Rs2.89 billion remains outstanding. The broker has been found to have allowed credit transactions in violation of the law.

The investigation found that Bhatta bought and sold shares through the Bhrikuti Broking Company. Himalayan Reinsurance Limited, in which Bhatta has 4.5 percent ownership, was found to have purchased 38,441 units of shares on various dates from Infinity Holdings, which is under his full ownership.

Himalayan Reinsurance Limited sold these shares to Nepal Micro Insurance Company (90,000 units), Guardian Micro Life Insurance Company (80,000 units), Crest Micro Life Insurance Limited (15,000 units) and Protective Micro Insurance Company Limited (15,814 units).

Bhatta has investments in all these companies. Accordingly, he holds 15 percent shares each in Nepal Micro Insurance and Guardian Micro Life Insurance Limited, 15 percent in Crest Micro Life Insurance and 21.43 percent in Protective Micro Insurance. Under the law, shares cannot be sold from one company where one has an investment to another company involving the same person as an investor. Bhatta is accused of conducting such illegal transactions between companies which he owns.

Raj Bahadur Shah:
Shah, managing director of Jawalakhel Group of Industries, is accused of misappropriating funds from various listed companies and individuals to purchase shares in his own name, obtaining trading limits without advance payment similar to Bhatta, failing to pay the full amount for share transactions, and receiving shares into his account without payment.

From July 7, 2025, to the present, Shah purchased 1,051,204 shares of Nepal Reinsurance Company through Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company at various prices, totalling Rs1.41 billion. Of this amount, he paid only Rs525 million. As of August 6, 2025, Shah still owes Rs897.09 million to the broker. Shah did not deposit the required amount for securities purchases, received trading limits without advance payment, and had securities credited to his account without paying for them. Attempts by Kantipur to contact Shah over the allegations were unsuccessful.

Shubhi Agrawal:
Shubhi is the wife of Sulav, vice-chair of Shanker Group. She is accused of misappropriating funds from Himalayan Reinsurance Limited and other listed companies and individuals to purchase shares in her name, obtaining trading limits without advance payment, as Bhatta did, not settling the full amount of share transactions, and receiving shares into her account without payment.

Through these activities, it appears that the value of shares she purchased increased unnaturally, misleading investors. The board concludes that she, along with Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company, planned and executed activities to mislead investors and artificially increase share prices, which may constitute offences under the Securities Act, 2007. She currently owes Rs628.95 million to the broker. She has traded shares of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited, NLG Insurance Company Limited and Guardian Micro Life Insurance Limited.

Rishi Raj More:
Since January 17, 2024, to the present, Mr. More received trading limits through Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company without depositing an advance payment. The investigation shows that even without depositing funds for securities purchases, shares were credited to his account.

He currently owes Rs230.13 million to the broker. As of May 13, 2025, his outstanding dues had reached Rs1.32 billion. During this period, he purchased shares of Himalayan Reinsurance, Nepal Reinsurance, NLG Insurance and Guardian Micro Insurance.

Sandip Chachan:
Chachan is the chief executive officer of Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company. The Board found that the broker purchased shares on credit in the names of various individuals but did not pay proceeds from share sales to the respective individuals and institutions to settle those transactions. A large volume of transactions involving Bhatta and associated individuals and companies still remains unsettled.

“Shubhi Agrawal, Raj Bahadur Shah and Rishi Raj More, like Bhatta, obtained trading limits without advance payment, did not settle the full amount of share transactions, and received shares into their accounts without payment,” the report states. “This appears to have contributed to an unnatural increase in the value of the shares they purchased. It also appears to have misled investors and the securities market.”

The Board concludes that they, in collusion with Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company, planned and executed activities to mislead securities investors and artificially increase share prices, which may constitute offences under the Securities Act. As Chachan, being the responsible person as chief executive, is seen as having facilitated this, the Board concluded that it would be appropriate to refer the matter to Police Headquarters for investigation under Section 103(3) of the Securities Act.

Although Bhirkuti Stock Broking carried out clearing and settlement (T+3) by transferring shares into buyers’ accounts and recording them in sellers’ accounts within three days of the transactions, it did not collect payment from buyers or pay sellers. According to the law, clearing and settlement of share transactions cannot be done without collecting payment from buyers.

Individuals and institutions facilitating the offence

Institutions that helped in the offence include Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan Capserv, Nepal Micro Insurance Company, Himalayan Securities Banker Limited and HLI Large Cap Fund. Individuals include Gupta and Shekhar Golchha.

Himalayan Reinsurance Company appears to have bought and sold shares of Nepal Reinsurance Company, NLG Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, and Nepal Micro Insurance Company. All these companies have share investments from Bhatta and others.

Himalayan Capserv, Himalayan Reinsurance, Crest Micro Life Insurance and Protective Micro Insurance appear to have purchased NLG shares and contributed to jacking up its share price.

Shubhi, Himalayan Investment Banker, Himalayan Reinsurance, HLI Large Cap Fund, Himalayan Capserv, Crest Micro Life Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Liberty Micro Life Insurance, Protective Micro Insurance and Himalayan Life Insurance appear to be involved in this activity.

In this operation, funds primarily from Bhatta and Bhirkuti Stock Broking were used, while facilitators included Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan Capserv, Nepal Micro Insurance Company, Himalayan Securities Bank, HLI Large Cap Fund, Gupta and Golchha.

Shekhar Golchha:
The report lists Golchha as a facilitator. The investigation shows that the broker used funds from Golchha and the mentioned companies to purchase shares in the names of Bhatta and others. The broker still owes Golchha Rs525 million.

On being named as a facilitator, Golchha told Kantipur in mid-April 2026 that he resigned as chairman of Himalayan Reinsurance Company after learning of illegal share purchases by Bhatta, Sulav and his wife, Shubhi.

“Such a large transaction had taken place, and funds of various public limited companies had been misused,” he said. “This issue was not even tabled in the board meeting of Himalayan Reinsurance Company. The day I learned of this activity, I resigned as chairman.” He also claimed that he was not the ultimate beneficiary in any way. Golchha said misuse of funds of public limited companies is not permitted by law.

Rohit Gupta:
Gupta is listed as a facilitator. The investigation shows that the broker used funds from Gupta and the mentioned companies to purchase shares in the names of Bhatta and others. The broker owes Gupta Rs525 million.

Provision of offence and action

The report finds that the broker carried out netting-based settlement without paying institutions the funds they were due after selling securities. This shows that Bhatta, Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company, Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan Capserv and Nepal Micro Insurance Company colluded to create a scheme to unnaturally inflate the share price of Nepal Reinsurance Company.

By not exchanging funds for share purchases and sales, artificial demand was created in the market for Nepal Reinsurance shares. As a result, the company’s share price increased from Rs1,461 to Rs1,686 in less than one month between July 21 and August 26, 2025.

The study concludes that they committed offences under Section 96 of the Securities Act by inflating the share price of Nepal Reinsurance, which misled investors and the overall secondary market.

The report also reveals that Bhatta, Shubhi, Raj Bahadur, and businessman More purchased shares on credit and settled transactions through Bhirkuti Stock Broking in violation of the law.

The board also found that the trading management system (TMS) accounts of Bhatta, Sulav, Himalayan Reinsurance, Himalayan Securities Banker Limited, Himalayan Capserv, HLI Large Cap Fund, Nepal Micro Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Crest Micro Life Insurance, Liberty Micro Life Insurance and Protective Micro Insurance were operated by a single individual. Bhatta admitted this in his statement to the DMLI. According to department sources, Bhatta said he had given TMS access to Bhirkuti Stock Broking, and Sulav used the login credentials to trade from his own office.

The Board’s investigation also shows that Bhatta and Sulav’s group traded shares to artificially inflate the share price of NLG Insurance Company. The involvement of Shubhi, Himalayan Investment Bank, Himalayan Reinsurance, HLI Large Cap Fund, Himalayan Capserv, Crest Micro Life Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Liberty Micro Life Insurance, Protective Micro Insurance, and Himalayan Life Insurance has been identified as creating additional demand and artificially increasing the company’s share price. Such actions are stated to be in violation of the Securities Act.

“Shubhi and Rishi Raj, while trading shares of listed entity Guardian Micro Life Insurance, obtained trading limits without advance payment, did not settle full transaction amounts, and received shares into their accounts without payment,” the report states. “This contributed to an artificial increase in the value of shares they purchased and misled investors and the securities market.”

Thus, Bhatta and Chachan, as the responsible persons of Bhirkuti Stock Broking, are seen to have committed offences under Sections 96(1) and 98 of the Securities Act, 2007, and the Board has recommended further investigation.

Bhirkuti Stock Broking Company has also been found to have purchased shares on credit in the names of various individuals and to have failed to pay the proceeds from share sales by various individuals and institutions to settle those transactions. A large number of transactions involving Bhatta and his associated individuals and companies remain unsettled.

According to the Board, the largest outstanding amount to be collected by Bhirkuti Stock Broking is Rs2.73 billion from Bhatta. It also has to collect Rs897 million from Raj Bahadur, Rs628.9 million from Shubhi and Rs230.1 million from More. It also has Rs2.2 million to collect from Himalayan Investment Banker Limited.

On the other hand, the broker owes large amounts to major institutions and prominent businessmen. It owes Rs2.73 billion to Himalayan Reinsurance Limited, and Rs525 million each to Gupta and Golchha, totalling Rs1.05 billion.

Institutionally, it owes Rs370 million to Himalayan Capserv, Rs251.4 million to HLI Large Cap Fund, Rs221.9 million to Himalayan Securities Banker and Rs161.752873 million to Nepal Micro Insurance Company.

The Securities Act defines such credit trading and failure to make payments after transactions as “fictitious transactions.”

Under the law, such offences can result in fines ranging from Rs50,000 to Rs150,000, imprisonment of up to one year, or both. If losses have been caused, the responsible parties must compensate for the damages.

Similarly, the Securities Board can freeze the accounts of such investors and ban them from future share trading.

The report recommends strict legal action against Bhatta and Chachan under Section 101(2) of the Securities Act. Given the scale of transactions worth billions, fictitious dealings and risks to the financial system, it recommends further investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police.

Suspecting the possible use of illicit funds in the purchase and sale of shares worth billions without actual payment, the report suggests that the assets of Bhatta and his associates be investigated by the DMLI.

It also indicates that Bhirkuti Stock Broking knowingly misused clients’ funds and enabled credit trading, recommending suspension or even cancellation of its licence.

As transactions with other major businessmen listed in the report appear suspicious, further detailed investigation into their roles has been recommended.

The use of a single IP address to operate multiple accounts is seen as evidence of market cornering, and stricter software controls have been recommended to prevent such practices.