Rabi Lamichhane Arrives In Bhairahawa

Rabi Lamichhane, the chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party and former Managing Director of Gorkha Media Network, arrived in Bhairahawa on Tuesday to appear in court for the Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative fraud case.

Lamichhane, along with his wife Nikita Poudel, arrived on a Buddha Air flight U4-859 in the afternoon. He is staying at Hotel Marigold ahead of his court appearance.

A new charge sheet filed on January 19 accuses Lamichhane of stealing more than Rs 40 million from the cooperative. He will give his statement to the court on Wednesday, after which the court will decide the next steps in the case.

The fraud case involves 42 people, who face charges of cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering. The total amount stolen is Rs 1.43 billion, affecting 1,903 depositors, with 1,872 filing complaints.

Lamichhane was previously granted bail in two other similar fraud cases, one involving Pokhara's Suryadarshan Cooperative and another with Kathmandu's Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, with bail amounts of Rs 6.5 million and Rs 6 million.