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By Rabi Raj Thapa

“Trusted Criminals” was first coined by a distinguished Sociology/Criminal Justice professor, University of Sacramento, David O. Friedrichs. He served as President of White Collar Crime Research Consortium in 2002-2004. Consequently, he was rewarded with Lifetime Achievement Award on Critical Criminology by the American Society of Criminology for his distinguished work in 2005.

In Nepal, white collar criminals are mushrooming day by day. More alarmingly, white color criminals have now become indistinguishable from political and bureaucratic big guns. Recently, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet bragged in front of Podcast cameras not to be afraid and intimidated by law enforcement officers and criminal cases.

What could be the best approach to nab white collar criminals in Nepal today? People seem to have lost hope. So they have lost interest in seeing criminals nabbed by the police. It may be due to fear, greed or intimidation, or it can be all combined.

Today, Nepal needs a comprehensive, powerful mechanism like that of the United States of America. In the US, there is a specialized agency called NW3C that asserts that there are ‘nearly one in four American households’ that fall victim to at least one form of cyber or economic crime. (see: NW3C –What do we do?).

Now, all Nepali people are seeing CIAA in a stalemate. Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB) is running through selective and subjective control of their ministry and political bosses. It is also limited by mandate, jurisdiction, resources and manpower. On top of that, it is overloaded and overburdened to nab more semi-political offenders than the real white-collar criminals. Nepal also need its CIB to be trained by agencies like NW3C, which claims to be a global leader in the fight against white collar and organized crimes. Many agencies like NW3C in the world will provide training in cybercrime, financial crime, and intelligence analysis to law enforcement and the private sectors as well. Because white color crime investigation requires specific training, the latest software with technical know-how is needed as investigative tools. In addition, they need more teamwork, interagency cooperation and coordination; legal mandate, safety and security of the investigating personnel, too. Organized and financial crime investigation in Nepal is far from the real-world investigation that can never succeed as expected and hoped for.  

It is absurd and perplexing that the government and even police are talking of buying more lethal weapons than pursuing more on soft power of policing, like investigation mandate, authority and autonomy in its professional work. Now people are complaining about police coercive high-handedness rather than their public services. Signature campaign in favor of former home minister Rabi Lamichane in police custody is gaining more public support than free-wheeling current home minister, who is also accused of his involvement in mocking the criminal justice system and rule of law in Nepal.

Today, Nepal also need a National White Collar Crime Data Center and agency like NW3C where law enforcement agencies and other related agencies can have information stored in a database for easy access, resulting in law enforcement information sharing. Federal agencies must have full investigative jurisdiction over white collar crime, including governmental corruption cases. The line of jurisdiction among agencies like CIAA must be sharply drawn.

One of the main reasons for a lot of diligent Nepali youths to leave their homeland is that they see “Trusted Criminals” in the guise of business tycoons, corporate leaders, politicians and high-level civil servants.

Despite all odds, Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB) has a good record and has produced many competent, professionally sound investigation officers. Only the pity is that they get hunted down whenever they confront Big-Fish with big business and political power-houses and personalities under their net. Probably, they need a harpoon instead of simple nets. Because white collar criminals in Nepal have risen in power with highly visible forms of institutions, who now feel stronger and confident as untouchables like Mafias and Yakuzas.  

It is absurd that the current government is bent on arming its security institutions more lethally than sending them for foreign training to be successful in financial and organized crime investigation.