The Area Police Office, Butwal, has submitted its investigation report on the Supreme Cooperative embezzlement case to the District Government Attorney’s Office, Rupandehi, implicating Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and others.

The report lists 42 individuals, including Lamichhane and former Deputy Inspector General Chhabilal Joshi, as defendants.

Chief District Attorney Prem Raj Paudel and his team have begun reviewing the report.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Bijayraj Pandit said that the report, which includes 28 defendants from the initial complaint and 14 from supplementary complaints, was submitted on Friday.

“The report suggests legal action against Lamichhane, Joshi, and others associated with 11 companies, including Gorkha Media Network,” he said. “Further investigations will be conducted by the government attorney’s office.”

Superintendent of Police Ranjit Singh Rathore, chief of the District Police Office, Rupandehi, said that a report recommending the filing of cases on charges of cooperative fraud, organised crime, and money laundering has been prepared and submitted to the attorney’s office for review.

In November, police took Lamichhane to Bhairahawa in Rupandehi district from Pokhara for investigation.

Previously, the Rupandehi District Court issued arrest warrants for 12 individuals, including Lamichhane and GB Rai, on October 24. Rai is on the run. The two are accused of misappropriating Rs142.9 million from Supreme Cooperative and diverting it to Gorkha Media Network Pvt Ltd. Investigations indicate that Lamichhane had allegedly borrowed Rs19.6 million in personal loans from the cooperative.

Rai, Lamichhane and Joshi were partners in the media company. Lamichhane quit the company to form the Rastriya Swatantra Party and join politics in 2022.

An investigation into Supreme Cooperative revealed Rs780 million deposited by members of the cooperative had been diverted to other organisations against the cooperative law.

Earlier, when Lamichhane was serving as Home Minister, the Supreme Cooperative case was filed in court on April 18. At that time, cases were registered against 28 individuals, alleging the embezzlement of Rs861.8 million belonging to 1,831 depositors.

According to police sources, the report has been prepared recommending filing cases against Lamichhane and Joshi, demanding Rs40 million as claimed amount from each.

On Thursday, the Kaski District Court released Lamichhane, also a former home minister, on bail of Rs6.5 million after spending 84 days in custody.

Now, he will appear before the Kathmandu Police Range. Then, the police will take him to the Kathmandu District Court, where a case has been filed against him on charges of embezzling deposits of Kathmandu-based Swarnalaxmi Cooperative. A similar process was followed in Joshi’s case.