Kathmandu, Aug 12: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has recommended prosecution of 22 people in the Smart Telecom scam and sought Rs 96 billion in damages.
The CIB submitted its investigation report to the Kathmandu District Government Attorney’s Office on Tuesday. The office will review the report before filing charges at the Kathmandu District Court.
Those named as defendants include six former Smart Telecom managing directors, three buyers, nine Ncell officials, two Nepal Investment Mega Bank officials, former Nepal Telecommunications Authority chairman Bhupendra Bhandari and another person.
The investigation centres on the alleged unlawful disposal of Smart Telecom’s assets after its licence was revoked. The CIB said the NTA had taken control of the company’s infrastructure, network and other assets under the Telecommunications Service Providers’ Asset Management Regulations 2022, but the assets were later auctioned in a manner that allegedly deprived the state of its rights.
Smart Telecom’s licence was automatically revoked in April 2023 after it failed to pay around Rs 30 billion in renewal fees and royalties. Under the law, its assets should then have come under government control.
However, Nepal Investment Mega Bank auctioned the assets to Ncell for Rs 4.6 billion in October last year. The CIB found that Ncell was allowed to participate despite legal provisions barring telecommunications service providers and their investors from such auctions.
The bureau has issued arrest warrants for nine Ncell officials, including chairman Satish Lal Acharya and CEO Miles Fowles. Both left Nepal after the investigation began. Former NTA chairman Bhandari was arrested on July 31 and remains in custody. The Kathmandu District Court has authorised the arrest of 16 suspects.
Investigators have questioned Bhandari’s role in the auction, particularly after finding that he formed a valuation committee only after the assets had already been sold. The NTA also began corresponding with Ncell only after the company informed the regulator in January that it had purchased the infrastructure.
The CIB also arrested former Smart Telecom chairman Sarvesh Joshi and Nepal Investment Mega Bank CEO Jyoti Prakash Pandey in April. Both have since been released. Joshi was accused of authorising the bank to auction assets that had already come under government control. Two others, Palani Shrestha and Narendra Ulak, were also arrested over their alleged involvement in the auction.
Nepal Rastra Bank has frozen the personal bank accounts of Nepal Investment Mega Bank chairman Prithvi Bahadur Pandey and five other directors, along with accounts linked to people and companies associated with Smart Telecom.
Meanwhile, Ncell has warned that arrests and criminal cases against investors could hurt Nepal’s investment climate. Its Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer Dilli Ram Shrestha raised the concern during Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle’s meeting with representatives of major multinational companies.
The CIB also questioned businessman and former Non-Resident Nepali Association president Dr Upendra Mahato during the investigation.
People’s News Monitoring Service
Login to add a comment