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Kathmandu, Aug 11: The management committee of the troubled Civil Savings and Credit Cooperative Limited has started the process of selling its land to return money to depositors. The plot in question, located at plot no. 139 in Ward 13 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, covers 525.96 square meters. The committee has set a minimum price of Rs 7.5 million per ana.

Interested buyers must bid above the minimum rate, and the committee has given individuals, institutions, and companies 35 days to submit purchase proposals.

Three companies owned by jailed real estate businessman Ichchha Raj Tamang, a former CPN-UML lawmaker, owe the cooperative Rs 7.66 billion. According to the committee, Civil Homes has the largest outstanding debt at Rs 7.28 billion, followed by Civil Apartment at Rs 322.5 million and Civil Estate at Rs 61.8 million.

The cooperative was declared troubled after Tamang failed to repay loans taken for apartment construction. On September 7, 2023, Bagmati Province’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Cooperatives formally labeled the cooperative as problematic.

Tamang, along with his wife, Sirjana, and Civil Savings Chairman Keshav Lal Shrestha, was remanded in custody by the Special Court on October 14, 2022, in connection with a money laundering case. Tamang, a former chairperson of the cooperative and ex-parliamentarian, also faces a fraud case in the Kathmandu District Court, where 42 individuals, including him, have been charged with embezzlement amounting to Rs 3.27 billion.

Authorities have also found 15 ropani of land in Kirtipur’s Tyanglaphat area registered under the names of Tamang’s wife and daughters, with Tamang keeping a smaller portion in his own name. This property, including the house, is valued at over Rs 1 billion.

A report by the Nepal Police Central Investigation Bureau recommended an eight-year jail term and a fine of Rs 5.59 billion for Tamang, equivalent to the misappropriated amount. The government has so far declared 19 savings and credit cooperatives as troubled, with billions of rupees in depositor funds misused in these institutions.

People’s News Monitoring Service