Bhandari took 3.5 crores from Miteri's General Manager Jyoti Gurung in MeterBadge and became uncontactable, Jyoti is still absconding.
Jyoti Bahadur Bhandari, who is accused of misappropriating the funds of Miteri Savings and Loan Cooperative of Lalitpur, has been arrested in Cambodia. With the help of Interpol, he was arrested and brought to Kathmandu on Wednesday night via Singapore Airlines from Cambodia via Singapore.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) is investigating Bhandari for allegedly embezzling about Rs 14 crore from Miteri Cooperative.
In the investigation, it was found that Jyoti Gurung, the general manager of the cooperative, had taken money from the cooperative several times in the meter bank, and the last time, he had lost contact with about 3.5 million rupees. General Manager Gurung is the ex-wife of Congress Vice Chairman and former Minister Dhanraj Gurung.
Both Jyoti Gurung and Bhandari absconded after the investigation into the misappropriation of the cooperative's funds. The police had issued a "red notice" through "Interpol" last October to search for both of them. The initial assumption of the police was that Bhandari had reached Colombo in Sri Lanka via Cambodia from Thailand. But the Cambodian police arrested him and sent him back to Kathmandu, according to the CIB. General Manager Gurung is absconding.
Miteri is a co-operative founded on the initiative of retired British and Indian Army. Jyoti Gurung joined it on 12th June 2057 as an assistant level employee. Two months later, she became an accountant on 25 July, a senior accountant on 4 May 2070 and became a general manager on 4 May 2075. She started putting Bhandari's money in meter badge.
Gurung initially withdrew 30 lakh rupees from the cooperative and gave it to the steward, but in a week he returned with an additional 5 lakh rupees. In the second phase, after giving 4 million, Bhandari returned the amount by adding 10 million in the next week, and after giving 50 million once, 60 million was returned. Bhandari became uncontactable after taking about 3.5 million rupees by increasing the amount. Then the cooperative collapsed.
Bodhvikram Thapa, the owner of the cooperative, filed a complaint with the CIB for investigation and action against those involved in misappropriation of funds. Initially, the CIB said that it can only be investigated on the basis of the relevant local level, state government or cooperative, government, parliamentary investigation study report.
CIB launched the investigation in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Cooperatives of Lalitpur Metropolitan City and Bagmati Province after criticism for not investigating the misappropriation of public savings. The Surya Bahadur Thapa-led parliamentary inquiry special committee formed last year also revealed about the fraud of Miteri cooperative funds. The CIB also questioned the Congress Vice President Gurung regarding the misappropriation of Miteri funds.
Ex-minister Gurung was accused of misappropriation of funds by his then wife Jyoti and divorced her to avoid controversy. Minister Gurung got divorced in February 2076 and after that when he took a loan from the cooperative, Jyoti was mentioned as his wife in the deed. Former minister Gurung has already repaid the loan taken from the cooperative. He has been denying his involvement in the cooperative fraud.
