Other traders have also been implicated in the collusion between the group including controversial businessman Deepak Bhatt and Sulabh Agrawal. According to the investigation and supervision report prepared by the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, five accused including Bhatt and seven associates, including organizations and individuals, have emerged as accomplices. Sulabh Agrawal's wife Shubhi Agrawal, Jawalakhel Group Managing Director Raj Bahadur Shah, businessmen Rishiraj Mor and Sandeep Chachan are accused of the crime. 

Former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Shekhar Golchha, vice-president of Ramesh Corp Rohit Gupta and institutional partners Himalayan Reinsurance, Himalayan Capserve, Himalayan Securities, HLI Large Cap Fund and Nepal Micro Insurance are mentioned in the report made public on Tuesday by the online portal Kathmandupati.com.

Since the report does not show that shares were purchased in the name of Sulabh Agrawal, his name is not on the list of accused and associates. In another investigation conducted by the board, Sulabh has been found guilty and action has been recommended.

On 25 Falgun 2082, the Money Laundering Investigation Department had written a letter to the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEB) to send details about Deepak Bhatt's share transactions.

Based on the said directive, the board has conducted an investigation and prepared a report. The report has been submitted to the investigating agency for further study, research and necessary action. The report has recommended action and measures against which individuals and organizations. That detail is presented here.

Who did what controversial act? 

report does not show that shares were purchased in the name of Sulabh Agrawal, his name is not on the list of accused and associates. In another investigation conducted by the board, Sulabh has been found guilty and action has been recommended. Deepak Bhatt: Bhatt is accused of buying shares on credit from Bhrikuti Stock Broking, getting them cleared and liquidated through a broker in an account (demat) without paying the share amount, artificially increasing the price of shares in the market by buying a large amount of shares on credit, engaging in insider trading, and committing false transactions. Bhatta has purchased shares worth 3.80 billion 5.3 million and sold 935 million 92 thousand from various companies from 5th July 2082 to 1st Chaitra 2082. During this period, the broker has not taken any amount from Deepak Bhatta. It seems that 2.89 billion 20 million 48 thousand should be taken till now. It has been found that the broker has given loans for illegal transactions. Since the

The investigation has found that Bhatta bought and sold shares through Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company, a stockbroker. In which Bhatta is the sole director, it is seen that 338 thousand 441 shares were purchased on various dates from Himalayan Reinsurance, which owns 4.5 percent of Infinity Holdings.

It appears that Bhatta sold 90,000 shares to Nepal Micro Insurance Company, 80,000 shares to Guardian Micro Life Insurance Company, 15,000 shares to Crest Micro Life Insurance Company, and 15,814 shares to Protective Micro Insurance Company.

Bhatta also has investments in all these companies. Accordingly, Bhatta has 15 percent stake in Nepal Micro Insurance and Guardian Micro Life Insurance. He owns 15 percent in Crest Micro Life Insurance and 21.43 percent in Protective Micro Insurance. Thus, shares cannot be sold from one company in which he has invested to another company in which he has invested. Bhatta is accused of illegally buying and selling shares between companies in which he has invested.

Deepak Bhatta-Sulabh Agrawal: Together during the Corona period, a share transaction worth Rs 373 crore was disrupted

Raj Bahadur Shah: Jawalakhel Group of Industries Managing Director Raj Bahadur Shah is also accused of embezzling funds from various listed companies and individuals and buying shares in his own name, trading without paying advance money like Deepak Bhatta, not paying all the amount for the share transaction, and receiving the shares in their accounts without paying the amount.

Shah had purchased 1 million 51 thousand 204 shares of Nepal Reinsurance Company through Bhrikuti Stock Broking from 23 Asad 2082 to date, worth a total of Rs 1 billion 418 million 72 million at various prices. Out of that amount, only Rs 525 million has been paid. As of 21 Shrawan 2082, Shah has yet to pay Rs 897 million 97 thousand to the broker. Thus, it appears that Shah did not deposit the amount due for the purchase of securities, that he was given a limit to trade even though he did not deposit the advance amount, and that the securities were deposited in his account even though he did not deposit the amount for the purchase of securities. Kantipur's repeated attempts to contact Shah regarding the allegations made in the report were unsuccessful.

Shubhi Agrawal:

Shubhi is the wife of Shankar Group Vice Chairman Sulabh Agrawal. Shubhi is accused of embezzling funds from various listed companies and individuals, including Himalayan Reinsurance, and buying shares in her own name, and trading without paying the advance amount, like Deepak Bhatt, without receiving the share trading limit, and receiving the shares in their accounts without paying the amount. This action seems to have helped increase the price of the shares purchased by Shubhi. And, it seems that there was an act of deceiving investors and the stock market. Therefore, the board has concluded that they planned and acted in collaboration with the securities broker Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company to defraud investors by artificially increasing the price of shares, which may have been an offense under the Securities Act. Currently, Shubhi has yet to pay the broker 628.956 million rupees for the purchase of shares. It appears that he has bought and sold shares of Nepal Reinsurance, NLG Insurance and Guardian Micro Life Insurance.

Rishiraj Mor:

Rishiraj Mor has received a limit to trade even though he has not deposited any advance money through Bhrikuti Stock Broking since 3 Magh 2080, and the investigation has shown that the securities have been deposited in his account even though he has not deposited the amount for the purchase of securities. That is why Mor currently has to pay 231.31 million rupees to Bhrikuti Stock Broking. As of 30 Baisakh 2082, the amount owed by Mor had reached 1.32 billion 28 million 7 thousand. During this period, More appears to have purchased shares of Himalayan Reinsurance, Nepal Reinsurance, NLG Insurance and Guardian Micro Insurance.

Sandeep Chachan:

Chachan is the CEO of Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company. The board has also found that Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company (Broker No. 55) purchased shares on credit in the names of various individuals and did not pay the money sold by various individuals and organizations to settle these transactions. In this, it appears that a large amount of transactions by businessman Deepak Bhatta and various individuals and companies associated with him are still yet to be cleared. ‘It is seen that Shubh Agrawal, Raj Bahadur Shah and Rishiraj More also traded shares without paying advance money, did not pay all the amount of the share transaction and received the shares in their accounts without paying the amount,’ the report says. ‘This action seems to have helped in increasing the value of the shares purchased by them. It also appears that investors and the stock market have been deceived.’

The board has concluded that they planned and acted in collaboration with the stockbroker Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company to deceive investors and artificially increase the share price, which may have constituted an offense under the Securities Act. Since it appears that Chachan, the responsible person as the Chief Executive Officer, has cooperated, the board has concluded that it is appropriate to send the case to the Police Headquarters to investigate this offense pursuant to Sub-section (3) of Section 103 of the Securities Act, 2063.  Bhatta and other individuals have invested in all these companies. It appears that Himalaya Capserve, Himalayan Reinsurance, Crest Myco Life Insurance and Protective Micro Insurance have committed the crime of increasing the share price of the company by purchasing shares of NLG.

Bhrikuti did not take money from the buyer's customer and pay the seller's customer (clearing and settlement) within three days (T+3) of the purchase and sale of shares by the customer (investor), but it was not seen that he took money from the buyer's customer and paid money to the seller's customer. According to the law, share transactions cannot be cleared and settled without taking money from the buyer.

Individuals and organizations that assisted in the offense

The organizations that assisted in the offense include Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan CapServ, Nepal Micro Insurance Company, Himalayan Securities Banker and HLI Large Cap Fund. The report mentions that Rohit Gupta and Shekhar Golchha assisted in similar individuals. Himalayan Reinsurance Company seems to have bought and sold shares of companies including Nepal Reinsurance Company, NLG Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Nepal Micro Insurance Company.

Sulabh Agarwal, who was arrested for money laundering, has been remanded for seven days

Bhatt and others have shares in all these companies. It appears that the company's share price was increased by purchasing shares of NLG made by Himalaya Capserve, Himalayan Reinsurance, Crest Micro Life Insurance and Protective Micro Insurance.

Shubhi Agarwal, Himalaya Investment Banker, Himalayan Reinsurance, HLI Large Cap Fund, Himalayan Capserve, Crest Micro Life Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Liberty Micro Life Insurance, Protective Micro Insurance and Himalayan Life Insurance have been involved in this case. It appears that Deepak Bhatta and Bhrikuti Stock Broking and Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan Capserve, Nepal Micro Insurance Company, Himalayan Securities Bank, HLI Large Cap Fund, Rohit Gupta and Shekhar Golchha were the main contributors to this operation.

Shekhar Golchha:

The report lists Shekhar Golchha, former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and chairman and managing director of the Golchha Group, as a person who assisted in the crime. Investigation has shown that the broker bought shares in the names of Bhatta and others with the money received from Golchha and the aforementioned company. The broker has yet to pay Golchha Rs 525 million. Kantipur spoke to Golchha in the last week of Chaitra regarding the report's reference to him as an accomplice in the disputed share transaction. In which he had said that he resigned as the outgoing chairman of Himalayan Reinsurance Company after receiving information that Bhatta, Sulabh Agarwal and his wife Shubhi Agarwal had illegally purchased shares. 

‘Such a huge amount of money was transacted, and the money of various public limited companies was also embezzled in the purchase of shares,’ he had said, ‘This was not even proposed in the meeting of the board of directors of Himalayan Reinsurance Company. I resigned from the post of chairman on the same day I came to know about this activity.’ He also claims that he was not the ultimate beneficiary of the transaction. Golchha said that the misuse of public limited company funds and arbitrarily using them is not according to the law.

Rohit Gupta:

The report has also listed Ramesh Corp Vice President Rohit Gupta as a person who assisted in the crime. Investigation has shown that the broker bought shares in the names of Bhatta and others with the money received from Gupta and the mentioned company. The broker has yet to pay Gupta Rs 525 million.  Provision of offense and action

It appears that the broker has cleared the amount taken from the mentioned individuals and organizations and the amount that the said organizations should have received by selling the securities in the netting system without giving them to the organizations. This also shows that Deepak Bhatta, Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company, Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan Capserve, Nepal Micro Insurance Company, etc., have conspired to increase the share price of Nepal Reinsurance Company.

  The study concludes that through this plan and action, the investors and the entire secondary market system of securities have been deceived and the price of Nepal Reinsurance shares has been increased, thereby committing an offense under Section 96 of the Securities Act. In this way, by not transacting money for the purchase and sale of shares, it appears that an artificial demand has been created in the market for the share price of Nepal Reinsurance. It seems that through their efforts, the share price of this company, which was Rs 1,461 on 5th July 2082, reached Rs 1,686 on 10th Bhadra 2082. 

The study concludes that through this plan and action, the investors and the entire secondary market system of securities were deceived and the share price of Nepal Reinsurance was increased, thereby committing an offense under Section 96 of the Securities Act. 

The report has revealed that along with Bhatta, Shubh Agrawal, wife of Shankar Group Vice Chairman Sulabh Agrawal, Raj Bahadur Shah, Managing Director of Jawalakhel Group of Industries, and another businessman Rishiraj Mor also purchased shares on credit from Broker No. 55 Bhrikuti Securities against the law and cleared the same. 

The Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal has also found that the trading management system (TMS) of Deepak Bhatt, Sulabh Agrawal, Himalayan Reinsurance, Himalayan Securities Banker, Himalayan Capserv, HLI Large Cap Fund, Nepal Micro Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Crest Micro Life Insurance, Liberty Myco Life Insurance and Protective Micro Insurance is operated by the same person. Bhatt has also admitted this in his statement to the Money Laundering Investigation Department. According to the department source, Bhatt has given a statement that he gave the TMS to the broker and Sulabh Agrawal took the TMS 'login password' from the broker and traded from his own office.

Bhatt and Agrawal used to trade shares on credit: Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal

The board's investigation has also shown that Bhatt and Agrawal group traded shares with the aim of increasing the share price of NLG Insurance Company, a listed company in the secondary market. The report also mentions the involvement of Shubhi Agarwal, Himalaya Investment Bank, Himalayan Reinsurance, HLI Large Cap Fund, Himalayan Capsorb, Crest Micro Life Insurance, Guardian Micro Life Insurance, Liberty Micro Life Insurance, Protective Micro Insurance and Himalayan Life Insurance in creating additional demand in the market and increasing the share price of the company. The board has also stated that such work is also against the Securities Act. 

‘It appears that Shubhi and Rishiraj traded shares of Guardian Micro Life Insurance, a listed corporate body, without paying any advance money, and that the shares were received in their accounts without being paid,’ the report states. ‘This action helped increase the price of the shares they purchased and it appears that investors and the stock market were deceived.’ The broker is yet to pay a total of Rs 1.5 billion to both Gupta and Golchha at the rate of Rs 525 million each.

The board has also recommended further investigation as Deepak Bhatta and Sandeep Chachan, the responsible person as the CEO of Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company, have committed offences under Section 96, Sub-section (1) and Section 98 of the Securities Act, 2063. The board has also found that Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company (Broker No. 55) purchased shares on credit in the names of various individuals and did not pay the money sold by various individuals and organizations to settle those transactions. In which it seems that a large amount of transactions of businessman Deepak Bhatt and various individuals and companies associated with him are still to be cleared.

According to the board, the largest amount of investors who have yet to collect the amount from Bhrikuti Stock Brokers is 2.73 billion 33 million 15 thousand rupees in the name of businessman Deepak Bhatt. The broker seems to have yet to collect 897 million from Raj Bahadur Shah, 628.9 million from Shubh Agarwal and 231 million from Rishiraj Mor. The board's report also states that 2.2 million rupees are yet to be collected from Himalaya Investment Banker Limited.

On the other hand, the broker is yet to pay a large amount to various large institutions and reputable businessmen. Of this, the largest amount of 2.73 billion 33 million is to be paid to Himalayan Reinsurance Limited. Other businessmen who have yet to be paid by the broker are Rohit Gupta and Shekhar Golchha. The broker is yet to pay a total of 1.5 billion rupees to both Gupta and Golchha at the rate of 525 million rupees each.

संस्थागततर्फ हिमालयन क्यापसर्वलाई ३७ करोड, एचएलआई लार्ज क्याप फन्डलाई २५ करोड १४ लाख, हिमालयन सेक्युरिटिज बैंकरलाई २२ करोड १९ लाख र नेपाल माइक्रो इन्स्योरेन्स कम्पनीलाई १६ करोड १७ लाख ५२ हजार ८७३ रुपैयाँ भुक्तानी दिन बाँकी रहेको प्रतिवेदनमा उल्लेख छ । धितोपत्रसम्बन्धी ऐन, २०६३ ले यस्ता उधारो कारोबार र कारोबारपछि रकम भुक्तानी नदिनुलाई ‘झूटो कारोबार’ भनेर परिभाषित गरेको छ ।

बिनापैसा अर्बौंको सेयर खरिद–बिक्री हुनुमा ‘कालोधन’ को प्रयोग भएको हुन सक्ने आशंका गर्दै सम्पत्ति शुद्धीकरण अनुसन्धान विभागमार्फत भट्ट र उनीसँग आबद्ध व्यक्तिहरूको सम्पत्ति जाँच गर्न सुझाइएको छ ।

यसैगरी धितोपत्र बोर्डले यस्ता लगानीकर्ताको खाता रोक्का गर्ने र भविष्यमा सेयर कारोबार गर्न नपाउने गरी प्रतिबन्ध लगाउन सक्छ । धितोपत्र बोर्डको प्रतिवेदनले व्यवसायी दीपक भट्ट र भृकुटी स्टक ब्रोकरका कार्यकारी प्रमुख सन्दीप चाचानलाई धितोपत्रसम्बन्धी ऐनको दफा १०१ (२) बमोजिमको फौजदारी कसुरमा कडा कानुनी कारबाही गर्न सिफारिस गरिएको छ । यो प्रकरणमा अर्बौंको लेनदेन, नक्कली कारोबार र वित्तीय प्रणालीमै जोखिम देखिएकाले थप अनुसन्धान र कारबाहीका लागि नेपाल प्रहरीको केन्द्रीय अनुसन्धान ब्युरोमा पठाउन सिफारिस गरिएको छ । ऐनको व्यवस्थाअनुसार यस्तो कसुर गर्ने व्यक्तिलाई ५० हजार रुपैयाँदेखि १ लाख ५० हजार रुपैयाँसम्म जरिवाना वा एक वर्षसम्म कैद वा दुवै सजाय हुन सक्छ । यस्तो कारोबारबाट कसैलाई हानिनोक्सानी भएको छ भने त्यस्तो हानिनोक्सानी बापतको रकम (बिगो) भराउने र क्षतिपूर्तिसमेत दिनुपर्ने कानुनी व्यवस्था ऐनमा छ ।