When the corruption scandals of the last few years are discussed, they come in the same rhythm - Shibir scam, Widebody scandal, Lalita Niwas scandal, Yeti Omni scandal, Sun scandal, Bansbari scandal, Giribandhu scandal etc. Widebody is the name that comes first in the list of big money laundering scandals.

The controversial and opaque process adopted by the Nepal Air Service Corporation for the purchase of two widebody ships continues to be revealed.

After the payment made by the corporation reached Ireland, it was managed by bringing the bribe to Singapore and Dubai and the revelation that such money was also brought into Nepal through Hundi, it can be expected that more parts of this scandal will be exposed. Mainly, the basis is being prepared for the involvement of more people and they will also be dragged into the scope of action. 

Although the process of purchasing two A330-200 series widebody aircraft manufactured by the French company Airbus continued, since the corporation did not have financial resources, the government was the guarantor and the loan was issued from the Employee Savings Fund and Citizen Investment Fund. During the purchase of the ship, the corporation paid 216.3 million US dollars (about 23.2 billion rupees according to the then rate) on four different dates.

In this process, it has been determined by the special court that the corporation has suffered a loss of 1 billion 47 million 10 million due to collusion. The court has sentenced the then Secretary of Tourism and Corporation President Shankar Prasad Adhikari, then Secretary Shishir Dhungana, then General Manager of NIMG Sugaratna Kansakar, Joint Secretary Budhisagar Lamichhane to the same fine and imprisonment up to 10 years. Representatives of various foreign companies involved in the

procurement process have also been complicit in similar punishments. At the same time, the US court fined ship supplier AAR Corp $55 million for bribery during the sale of widebody ships to the corporation.

It has been found that the foreign companies, the connections between them and the route of the bribe money have been made as circuitous as possible to make the agreement to buy the aircraft. Although there was an agreement between the corporation and America's AAR Corp for the purchase and sale of the ship, the corporation proceeded with the process of sending the purchase amount to Ireland's Highfly X.

Deepak Sharma, a British citizen of Nepalese origin, set up a one-dollar 'cell company' in the name of Highfly X Ireland for this process. Agents from UK, Germany, Portugal and America were active to buy and sell ships from this arrangement. According to the same scheme, Highfly X Ireland also appointed Norton Rose Fulbright LLP as a third party agent to collect payments.

In particular, the corporation sent the total amount to this third party four times. After receiving the payment from the corporation, it has been found that Hifly X Ireland has deposited 41 lakh 40 thousand US dollars in the accounts of various companies in Singapore and Dubai. It seems that the money for the bribe was managed in the accounts of different companies in different countries. It has also been found that such amount was brought to Nepal through Hundi and deposited in the bank accounts of various people.

The latest revelations have necessitated further investigation into the elaborate web connected to Wadibody. In such cases of irregularities, only the staff or the procedural decision-making class are found guilty. But the practice of making the political leadership responsible for guiding them and making them make policy decisions has not been institutionalized.

If the investigation about the money that entered Nepal in the widebody case is successful, even the category that has not been convicted in many scandals so far may come under the scope of action. How did the bribe amount separated from the money that went to Ireland for the ship reach Shaktikendra's account in Nepal or abroad, and whose account did it reach? And how was the purification done? Its search is mandatory.