The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 28 individuals and a company, including former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Joint Secretary Arun Pokharel, in a special court on Thursday. The CIAA has filed a case against them in a case related to gold smuggling three years ago, fixing a fine of Rs 77.868 million and filing a case in the court. The CIAA has claimed that the employees involved in the initial investigation and investigation of the gold smuggling case should be fined and sentenced to imprisonment as per the amount. Similarly, a lump sum has been claimed for the former Speaker and others involved in gold smuggling. The then Chief Customs Administrator of the Tribhuvan Airport Customs Office, Arun Pokharel, Chief Customs Officer Mukti Prasad Shrestha, Chief Customs Officer Ambika Prasad Khanal, Customs Officer Ramesh Kumar Khatiwada, Customs Officer Subendra Shrestha, Deputy Subba Suvarnaprabha K.C., Deputy Subba Bhuwanraj Ghimire, Deputy Subba Umesh Prasad Koirala, Deputy Subba Rewant Khadka and Deputy Subba Madhusudan Pokharel have been claimed a lump sum of Rs 77.868 million in damages, informed the CIAA's Assistant Spokesperson Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari. Similarly, in the same case, former Speaker Mahara, including Resham Mahara alias Rahul, Nirmal Kumar B.K., Lokendra Kumar Poudel, Dipesh Basnet, Gopal Subedi, Dinesh Basnet, Ved Prakash Agrawal, Ram Keshav Thapa Chhetri, Amrit Karki, Neema Gurung, Prerna Thapa, Lalita Thapa, Deepika Thapa, Chinese citizens Li Hangsong and Daojing Wang, Belgian citizen Dawa Tshering, Indian citizen Saheb Rao Pandurang Margale and Dexter Travels and Tours Pvt. Ltd. have been claimed a sum of Rs 77.868 million. What is the Vape case? The corruption case filed against Mahara and Joint Secretary Pokharel is related to the incident of 10 Paush 2079. A new smuggling business was revealed after a Chinese gang involved in smuggling gold settings imported from Dubai in the wrapper of an electronic cigarette (Vape) was found on 10 Paush 2079. The smugglers had brought gold from Dubai to the customs warehouse via Tribhuvan Airport by hiding it in 73 boxes of 730 gold bars. During the investigation, it was revealed that the gold was about 9 kg, but the matter became even more mysterious when it was stolen in the middle.

Li Hsang, a Chinese passport holder with EJ 6350030, had hidden the gold bars in 73 boxes in two suitcases from Dubai flight number FZ 0587 and landed in Kathmandu. Hsang, who had brought the gold, was about to hand it over to the gang leader Dawajin Wang after passing the check as a bar. Dawajin was a suspicious person connected to former Speaker Mahara. The goods were seized by the airport customs office on the same day after the goods were found suspicious at customs. Hsang absconded a few days later. The owner of the gold, Dawajin Wang, had been actively involved in releasing the goods held at customs through former Speaker Mahara and his son Rahul. After that, Mahara's father and son became active in releasing the gold-containing goods as per Dawajin Wang's plan. During that time, it was revealed that Mahara's father and son had contacted various people, including customs officials and Chinese smugglers, 256 times at different times.

Three days after the customs took control of the goods, on December 13, Mahara's father and son had called the customs officials in turn to pressure them to release them. Till then, the issue of the gold in the goods had not been made public. The goods were sealed in a warehouse. Later, the goods kept in the warehouse were stolen in a setting with customs officials and middlemen. The goods containing gold brought by the Chinese were replaced with other goods. The fact that a security guard assigned to protect the customs warehouse had taken a gold-filled vial home, and only after the vial was opened at home, the fact that the gold was hidden in the vial was revealed.

The airport customs had written to the CIB on 26 Baisakh 2080 to investigate the theft of the gold-filled vial stored in the warehouse. After that, various people including the customs officer Revant Khadka were arrested. And the same Khadka had said in his statement to the police, 'After finding a syringe containing gold-filled vial in the warehouse, they took out the gold-filled vial according to their own plan and brought the real vial from outside and kept it in the warehouse.' After that, the CIB investigated the theft of the gold-filled vial for 2 months. During the investigation, only about 100 grams of gold was found. It was revealed that the remaining gold, along with customs employees and agents, had disappeared nine kilos of gold.

On that basis, the District Attorney's Office, Kathmandu, filed a case in the District Court on 29 Ashad 079. In that case, Mahara's father and son and Joint Secretary Pokharel were not defendants. During the investigation, it was revealed that the gold brought into the country belonged to Nandukumar Randuram Margale from Maharashtra, India. Although Dawajin Wang planned to bring the smuggled gold from China to Indian citizens, the setting went awry and the secret was revealed. Margale had also opened a factory on New Road to weigh and test the smuggled gold. Later, both Mahara and his son were arrested and charged in the same case. In the same case, the CIAA filed a corruption case against former Speaker Mahara, alleging that he was involved in the gold smuggling case by abusing his public position. Based on the CIB's investigation, Mahara was sent to jail during the trial in the gold smuggling case filed by the District Attorney's Office on 29 Ashad. Mahara, who went to the higher court against the district's order, was ordered to be released on a bail of 2 million rupees on 11 Mangsir. Mahara, who was arrested on 5 Chaitra 2080, was released on bail on 9 Chaitra citing health reasons. After that, the case against him was pending in the CIB. After his arrest on 26 Asoj, the CIB handed over the case to the government attorney, and the case went to the district. The district sent him to remand but the higher court released him on bail, and the CIAA filed a corruption case in the special court, making him and others defendants in a corruption case related to the same case.