KATHMANDU, Feb 20: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has arrested eight operators of investment companies for their involvement in banking fraud and charging an exorbitant interest rate of over 24 percent on loans.
A joint team of the CIB and the Regional Investigation Team of Province 1 on Sunday arrested eight operators of five investment companies in Sunsari and Morang districts after they were found collecting a total amount of up to Rs 100 million without permission from Nepal Rastra Bank and the Department of Cooperatives. They were also found providing loans with interest rate of over 24 percent to service seekers, according to a press statement issued by the CIB on Monday.
Police crack down on loan firms charging over 24 pc interest
The CIB has arrested Bhim Prasad Chaudhary and Shyam Pheskara Tharu of Aapan Investment Pvt Ltd in Itahari; Chandra Bahadur BK and Aanita BK of Haleshi Investment Pvt Ltd in Dharan; Raju Sah of Chautari Investment Pvt Ltd in Biratnagar; Sunil Guragain of N Investment Pvt Ltd in Itahari; and Dilli Prasad Acharya and Prakash Acharya of Nuntang Investment Pvt Ltd in Itahari. Apart from arresting them, the CIB has also confiscated all the documents used for financial transactions from them.
The CIB investigation revealed that the arrested operators had managed to illegally amass almost of Rs 100 million illegally from the locals with the promise of providing them higher interest rates than the cooperatives. Later, the companies would lend the collected money as loans at an interest rate of over 24 percent.
The CIB has initiated a further investigation against them under the Banks and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA).
