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Kathmandu Monday March 19, 2001 Chaitra 06, 2057.
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NBL siphoned off Rs 2.5m
Post Report
BIRGUNJ, March 18 - At a time when Nepal Bank Ltd. is going
through difficult times, a case of misappropriation involving Rs 2.5 million in the
Pakhanipur branch has surfaced. According to information received here today, Rs 2.5
million in loan, against gold-silver deposits, was granted by the bank to a local, but
without any reciprocal deposit.
A two-member team from Kathmandu arrived here today to
probe into the issue. According to Uttam Nepal, Manager of the NBL’s regional branch
here, investigations are currently underway and the exact nature of default can be
ascertained only after the conclusion of the investigations. So far it is not clear on the
amount of money siphoned off the bank.
However, he informed that the cashier of the Pakhanipur
branch, allegedly involved in the scam, could not be contacted even after repeated tries.
"We are on a lookout for Bal Krishna Maskey, the cashier," he said.
According to sources at the branch, the fraud took place
with the participation of the bank’s manager Anup Raj Bhandari, cashier Bal Krishna
Maskey and gold-silver dealer Raj Shrestha. The sources informed a number of bonds were
signed for reaching the overall deal, but no collateral was pledged to ensure its
security.
So far, over 500 bonds, against gold-silver deposits, have
been prepared by the bank. However, it is not yet clear whether the bank has enough
gold-silver deposits to recover its loans, in case of loan default, informed Nepal. This
is not the first time that a fraud case has surfaced at the Pakhanipur branch. A similar
fraud had taken place a year ago too.
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