Nepal’s only billionaire under investigation for alleged land grab

Kathmandu:

Nepal’s only billionaire Binod Chaudhary is on the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) in connection with the government’s land acquisition case. The matter came to light after CIB wrote to the Speaker of Nepal’s House of Representatives informing it of the ongoing investigation.

Mr Chaudhry, a member of the Nepali Congress in Nepal’s lower house of parliament, is under investigation for allegedly privatizing land belonging to the Bansbari Shoe Factory, a government entity.

Senior CIB officer Hobindra Bogati submitted a letter to the Parliament Secretariat informing House Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire about the investigation into the land embezzlement case against MPs .

The CIB also gave Mr Chaudhry a deadline to provide an explanation of the case to investigating authorities by Thursday morning or he could face arrest.

Mr. Chaudhary is accused of illegally acquiring 10 ropani (54758.621 square feet) of land from Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory, a now-defunct state-owned company.

He is accused of transferring the land to Champion Footwear under an illegal agreement and subsequently renaming the company to CG Chandbagh Residency Pvt, which he owned.

Later, he handed over the land to his brother Arun Chaudhary, who now runs CG Chandbagh School on the seized land. An investigation has found that the Nepali billionaire, like his brother Arun Chaudhary, holds shares in Champion Footwear Company, which allegedly acquired government land from the Bansbari leather shoe factory.

The documents also show that brother Arun owns 200 shares of Champion Footwear Limited.

Although Binod Chaudhry’s brother was arrested in connection with the case, Binod Chaudhry was not arrested. The 200 shares, worth Rs 2 lakh, were part of an agreement specifying that the company should hold 2,500 shares in Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory, documents show.

The document also states that Binod Chaudhary’s father, Lunkarandas Chaudhary, owns more than 2,100 shares in Bansbari Leather Shoes Factory.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)