As the parliamentary special probe committee formed to investigate the crisis-ridden cooperatives started discussion with cooperative victims, most of the representatives invited at the committee demanded investigations into Gorkha Media Network chairman GB Rai and then managing director Rabi Lamichhane, who is now deputy prime minister and home minister.

Though the committee had invited victims from various cooperatives, most of those who shared their grievances at the parliamentary probe panel’s meeting on Wednesday spent most of their time demanding inquiry on the embezzlement of deposits that were rerouted to the media company, according to a member of the parliamentary special committee.

Home Minister Lamichhane was managing director of the media company that ran the now-defunct Galaxy 4K Television before he joined politics in June 2022. GB Rai, who is at large, is believed to have fled the country.

In its terms of reference (ToR), the committee has divided the cooperatives it has to investigate into two categories. It has listed the 20 cooperatives declared problematic ones by the government’s Crisis-ridden Cooperatives Management Committee in its schedule 1 and nine others including those linked to the Gorkha Media Network in the schedule 2.

The committee had planned to first listen to the victims who deposited money in the cooperatives listed in the schedule 1 and then move on to schedule 2.

After listening to the cooperative victims’ grievances on Wednesday, the committee members decided to hold discussions on the cooperatives listed in the schedule 2.

“Soon, the parliamentary special probe committee will start discussion on the fourth point [that mentions the schedule 2],” Lekh Nath Dahal, a member of the parliamentary special probe committee, told the Post.

As per the ToR, the probe panel will conduct a study and make recommendations on resolving legal and institutional issues faced by cooperatives and on regulations, supervision, and transparency of their financial systems.

Coordinators of various struggle committees formed by cooperative victims were also present during the discussion. Chair of the parliamentary probe panel, Surya Thapa, a lawmaker from CPN-UML, said that they invited the representatives to listen to their grievances as the victims’ suggestions would be crucial in reaching a conclusion on the matter.

Speaking in a discussion with the House committee, Shaligram Duwadi, a victim of Sahara Multi-Purpose Cooperatives from Chitwan, said that Rs510 million was rerouted from the cooperative to the Gorkha Media Network.

“We tried to lodge the complaint against Gorkha Media Network with Chitwan Police but they refused to register our complaint after they saw the name of Gorkha Media Network,” Duwadi was quoted as saying by a member of the special probe committee. “Why was the case not registered by Chitwan Police?”

Likewise, the committee member said Krishna Pariyar, a cooperative victim of Swarnalaxmi Saving and Credit Cooperative of Kathmandu, also accused Home Minister Lamichhane of abusing state power by not letting him withdraw his money and cash his cheque.

“Though the victims of many cooperatives were present in the meeting today [Wednesday], the discussion was more focused on the chairman and managing director of Gorkha Media Network,” said the committee member.

According to the committee member, the victims stressed that no matter how powerful these two people [Rai and Lamichhane] are, they should be booked under the law.

The parliamentary special probe committee invited representatives from 29 cooperatives mentioned in the ToR but most of those present at the meeting were victims from the cooperatives linked to the media company, according to committee members.

“Though victims from other cooperatives were also present at the committee meeting, most of them were those whose money was embezzled by the Gorkha Media Network,” Ishwari Devi Neupane, a probe committee member representing Nepali Congress, told the Post.

Listed under schedule 2 of the ToR or linked to the media company are: the Ideal Yamuna Multipurpose Cooperative, the Image Saving and Credit Cooperative, the Sahara Saving and Cooperative, the Samanata 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.

Reportedly, money from Butwal-based Supreme Saving and Credit Cooperative, Suryadarshan Saving and Credit and Cooperative of Pokhara, Sahara Saving and Cooperative of Chitwan, Swarnalaxmi Saving and Credit Cooperative of Kathmandu, Sano Paila Saving and Credit Cooperative of Birgunj, and Nepalgunj’s Samantha Saving and Credit Cooperative has been rerouted to the Gorkha Media Network.

Before this, the committee held discussions with top government officials including Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Ek Narayan Aryal and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, among other officials, on July 4 to discuss the cooperatives under investigation.

On the same day, Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Chief Shyam Gyawali and Crime Investigation Department Chief Tek Bahadur Tamang were also called for the discussion.

As per a probe committee member, some committee members grilled IGP Kunwar about his previous statement in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee. Speaking at the parliamentary committee in the last week of March, the Nepal Police chief had claimed that police had found no evidence of Home Minister Lamichhane’s involvement in cooperative fraud.

“When I made the statement in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee about the home minister, his involvement in the scam had not been disclosed,” a committee member quoted IGP Kunwar as saying at the special committee meeting.

Another member of the probe committee, Shishir Khanal, said the IGP said he was not under any pressure to give a statement about Home Minister Lamichhane. Khanal is a lawmaker from the Lamichhane-led Rastriya Swatantra Party.

“The IGP said that he spoke on the basis of facts and that no information regarding Home Minister Lamichhane’s involvement in the cooperatives scam had been found till the day he made the statement.”

Also, the committee held discussions with chiefs and representatives of various panels formed since 1990 to probe irregularities in the cooperative sector.

The parliamentary special panel will make recommendations on safeguarding depositors’ savings, and quick and easy refunds for victims whose deposits have been embezzled.

The panel also agreed to probe crisis-ridden cooperatives and fast-track the refund process for the depositors of the cooperatives concerned.

The parliamentary special probe committee began its work a month ago after a month-long discussion with top officials from government agencies as well as chiefs and members of various panels formed so far by the government to look into problems involving cooperatives.