KATHMANDU, Jan 24: A case has been registered in the Kathmandu District Court against a group of 17 people accused of trading around Rs 300 billion through illegal hundi, cryptocurrency transactions and various digital platforms. Among these 17 people is the controversial businessman Bimal Poddar.
Based on the investigation report of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police, the District Government Prosecutor's Office (DGAO) of Kathmandu has filed a case against the accused, demanding compensation of 286 billion of rupees for offenses under the Rastra Bank of Nepal Act, 2058 BS. and Prevention of Organized Crime Act, 2070 BS.
On November 22, CIB arrested Rupesh Shrestha, 48, from a house located in Bagbazar, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-28, based on a tip-off that hundreds of transactions were taking place from there. According to the CIB, 17 people, including businessman Poddar, were involved in this racket while checking mobile phones and records recovered from Shrestha.
Other accused include Ashish Agarwal, 35, of Thapathali, Kathmandu-11, Min Bahadur GC of Samakhusi, 48, Kumar Pariyar, 49, of Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City-12, Jhanindra, 45 years. Prasad Khatiwada of Gauradaha Municipality-4, Jhapa. Along with Shrestha, police arrested five people namely Agarwal, JC, Pariyar and Khatiwada. According to the CIB, 12 accused, including businessman Poddar, are absconding.
The absconding accused include Dipesh Shrestha, 44, of Bagbazar, Kathmandu-28; Anshul Shrestha, 31, from Kathmandu-31; Rachana Sharma (wife of Rupesh Shrestha); Sharad Bhattarai of Bidur Municipality-4 of Nuwakot; Birendra Magar of Dhading Rural Municipality Galchi-2; Bigal Singh Sharma of Babai Rural Municipality-6, Dang., Om Kumar Shrestha of Kamalamai Municipality-6, Sindhuli, Deepak Sharma of Putlibazar Municipality-4 of Syangja, Wangden Phuntsok Lama of Umakunda Rural Municipality-1 of Ramechhap, Govinda Prasad Shrestha of Devchuli Municipality-10, Nawalpur and Rudey Tamang of Manthali Municipality-10 of Ramechhap.
Among them, businessmen Poddar, Dipesh and Anshul are in the United States, police said. Dipesh is Rupesh's brother. Police investigation has revealed that this group has established an international network from the US to Nepal and from Nepal to India and has evaded the banking system to damage the revenue of the Government of Nepal and transfer money through Hundi, the cryptocurrency. and 'CashApp'.
Police investigation showed that Rupesh alone made a transaction of almost Rs 200 billion. He has transacted more than 171.62 billion rupees from different cryptocurrency wallets alone. His transactions include over 171.62 billion rupees from various cryptocurrency wallets, over 2.26 billion rupees from the records of 'John Robert' and 'Ryan Baker' and over 14.74 billion rupees through from 'CashApp'.
Similarly, research shows that Ashish has transacted over Rs 96 billion from different cryptocurrency wallets and over Rs 1.14 billion from CashApp. The other arrested accused have also been found to have been involved in illegal transactions worth millions of rupees.
