Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who participated in the 63rd meeting of the parliamentary special probe committee at Singha Durbar on Saturday, expressed the government’s commitment to controlling irregularities and corruption in the cooperatives sector.

The government would do so on the basis of “the committee’s painstaking study”. Addressing the committee members, Oli said that the cooperatives that are being run lawfully can still do a great service.

“It is the presence of some people with ill motives that has sullied the whole sector,” Oli said.

On Thursday, Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak and Home Secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi attended the panel’s 61st meeting. On the occasion, panel members urged the minister and secretary to arrest the culprits of the cooperatives scam who are on the run.

The probe panel, formed on May 28 with a four-point terms of reference (ToR), had its tenure extended by 15 days after it was unable to complete its duty in the given three months. The committee is working to submit its report before the new deadline.

The committee was formed to conduct a study and make recommendations on resolving legal and institutional issues facing the cooperatives as well as on the regulation, supervision, and transparency of their financial systems.

Likewise, the panel will recommend ways to safeguard depositors’ savings, investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives and fast-track the return of deposits.

The cooperatives linked with the funding of the now-defunct Gorkha Media Network were also to be probed as per the ToR.

The probe panel was constituted after pressure from the Nepali Congress, which was then the main opposition party. The Congress, accusing Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane as one of the main culprits in the cooperatives scam, had asked for such a committee’s formation.

The committee, while summoning 50 people with suspicious roles in the cooperatives scam, had also questioned Lamichhane and hinted of his involvement. Lamichhane was the managing director of Gorkha Media Network before joining politics in June 2022. His partner Gitendra Babu Rai, who is believed to be hiding in Malaysia, was the chair of the media company.

The company had redirected money from the various cooperatives to run the Galaxy 4k television channel under the network.

Meanwhile, as the parliamentary special committee is about to complete its work, new cases of political leaders’ involvement in cooperatives fraud continue to emerge.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police is looking into the alleged fraud involving the Miteri Savings and Credit Cooperative, which is connected to Nepali Congress Vice-president and former law minister Dhan Raj Gurung, and his former wife, Jyoti Gurung.

CIB spokesperson Hobindra Bogati said a complaint was filed against the cooperative’s employees and management, and preliminary investigations have started.

“We will investigate how the funds were misused and determine who was involved,” Bogati told the Post. “At present, we are focusing on investigating employees and members of the Miteri management.”

Bogati said they are yet to investigate persons individually.

After the cooperative’s chairman, Kumbharaj Gurung, complained to the Department of Cooperatives last month, alleging that Jyoti Gurung, the general manager, embezzled Rs12.5 million, the Congress vice-president also came under question.

Gurung denies his involvement in the scam, arguing that his former wife with whom he no longer has contact, had misappropriated the money, and so he could not be held accountable.

Despite Gurung’s claim that he separated from his wife in 2019, cooperative chair Kumbharaj reported to law enforcement agencies that the lawmaker continued to pay off the debt in his wife’s name until last year.

Various copies of the vouchers Dhan Raj Gurung reportedly used to deposit money into the cooperative’s account have surfaced on various media outlets.

Upon reaching the cooperative’s office at Mahalaxmi, Lalitpur on Friday, special committee members discussed the issue with Kumbharaj Gurung, the chair.

After being charged with embezzling the cooperatives funds, Dhan Raj Gurung, speaking in Parliament on September 10, called for a proper probe so as to clear his name.

The special committee, whose extended timeframe expires on September 22, inspected three government bodies and 13 cooperative institutions on Thursday.

It visited the Department of Cooperatives, the Cooperatives Training Centre at New Baneshwar, and the Crisis-ridden Cooperatives Management Committee Office at Buddhanagar.

The committee also examined several cooperatives, including Swarnalaxmi, Sumeru, Civil, Gautamshri, Kantipur Cooperative, Nepal Cooperative Financial Institution, Miteri, Laligurans, Gorkha Savings, Shiva Shikar, and Nagarik Bikas Cooperative.

CPN-UML leader Rishikesh Pokharel, the chair of the Public Accounts Committee of the federal parliament, has also been accused of mishandling cooperatives funds.

Pokharel’s wife, Anjala Koirala, was once on the board of Umagauri Agriculture Cooperative directors. She is accused of embezzling Rs120 million with the organisation located in Karsiya Bazar, Ward 4 of Dhanpal Nath Rural Municipality in Morang. The cooperative is now in distress.

Pokharel has denounced such allegations through social media posts.

“I express regret over the misleading reports, propagated by some corrupt intermediaries and certain media outlets, aimed at character assassination,” Pokharel said in a statement on Thursday.