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Kathmandu,Thursday January 20, 2000 Magh 6th, 2056.
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Crime Dept
probes into Nepal-SBI Bank fraud
-By Gopal Tiwari
KATHMANDU, Jan 19 - Valley Crime
Investigation Department (VCID) has initiated its investigation into the Rs 32 million
draft scam of Nepal-SBI Bank that took place between December 16 to 22, 1998, according to
a bank source.
Talking to The Kathmandu Post, the source
said VCID has been closely watching the Bank’s operations and its employees for a few
days in course of its investigation process.
The bank lost its amount through 10
fraudulent drafts by some fraudsters during the period. However, no institution has
discovered the wrongdoers as yet.
Commission for the Investigation of Abuse
of Authority (CIAA) which has been investigating into the draft scam since months has not
reached to any conclusion too.
Daya Ram Gopal Shrestha, Chief of Accounts
Division at CIAA says, "The fraud case is under investigation. We are actively
carrying out the investigation".
However, Shrestha complains that the Bank
has not yet provided complete documents that CIAA asked for. CIAA has already interrogated
some officials of the bank, but Shrestha simply said that junior employees were
interrogated but did not disclose their names.
However, a bank source revealed to The
Kathmandu Post that CIAA interrogated Sandip Pandey, Soma Raya Gupta and Neeta Paudyal on
January 18, 2000 at its office.
Though CIAA has not interrogated high
ranking officials of the bank as demanded by the shareholders in their petition to it.
Internal investigation report prepared by
the bank itself says that the forgery case took place due to managerial negligence.
According to the bank’s source, the
bank had earned a net profit of about Rs 128 million in 1998, however, in 1999, the profit
plunged to mere 77.6 million rupees.
The bank employees received bonus ranging
from Rs 40,000/- to 80,000/- in 1998. However, the bank is learnt not to provide any such
perk for the year 1999 owing to its heavily dwindling profits.
Because of mismanagement and inefficiency,
the bank has a poor performance which has adversely affected the employees, shareholders
and the government. It is also likely to create difficulty in paying its Rs 10 million
annual management contract fees to the State Bank of India.
Minutes of the 74th meeting of Board of
Directors of Nepal-SBI Bank held on 14 December, 1999 had also agreed that the penalty
fixed for the involved staff in the encashment of drafts by the management was too small.
The money was siphoned off through 10
fraudulent drafts from three banks viz Nepal Bank of Ceylon, Nepal Bangladesh Bank Limited
and Everest Bank.
AIC employees
strike hampers urea supply
-By Dinesh Wagle
KATHMANDU, Jan 19 - The strike called by
the employees of Agriculture Input Corporation (AIC), has hampered the sales of chemical
fertilizers at a time when farmers need them.
The employees went on a strike with their
16-point demand from 14 January asking the rise in the price of urea, imported by AIC, at
the call of Agriculture Input Corporation Employees Union (AICEU).
AICEU had alleged that the corporation is
selling the urea at below purchasing price.
Strikers have decided to stop the selling
of urea and are waiting to gheraoo general manager Krishna Chandra Jha who has been absent
in the office since January 14. They have also halted the movement of the
corporation’s vehicles.
The strikers are planning for the next
phase of the agitation from January 26 if their demands are not fulfilled within 26 of
this month.
The corporation has imported 30 thousand
tons of urea for this year at a rate of Rs 11,000 per ton with subsidy of Rs 15 hundred a
ton. Presently, the corporation selling urea at 8,000 rupees per ton causing a loss of Rs
3,000 a ton.
This is the last batch of urea fertilizer
imported with government subsidy. The government decided to remove subsidy in the purchase
of chemical fertilizers completely as envisaged by the Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP).
The strikers are demanding with the
corporation management board to increase the price by Rs 15 hundred per ton.
"Last year the corporation incurred a
hopping loss of Rs 400 million. If the selling price is not reviewed, another 40 million
rupees will be lost this year", argues Dinesh Shrestha, chairman of AICEU.
The AICEU, in writing had requested the GM
of the corporation on November 26, 1999, to fix new price of urea that could make 5
percent profit to the corporation. We are worried about the future of the corporation. If
the corporation keeps on selling urea at the same price, it will collapse by next year, he
lamented.
AICEU has been pressurizing the management
board to increase the price of urea by organizing various publicity programmes for five
days.
The board has the authority of fixing the
price of any chemical fertilizer. The strikers accused the board not exercising its right
to review the price.
Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai,
speaking at the special session of the parliament last month, has promised not to hike the
price of chemical fertilizers in the future.
It is learned that Agriculture Minister
Chakra Prasad Bastola has directed the management board not to decide against the
PM’s commitment.
However, the strikers accuse the board of
being the puppet of the government. Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture heads the
chairman and the GM of the corporation is the secretary of the board.
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