CIAA files graft cases against 26

KATHMANDU, AUG 26 -
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority on Sunday filed two corruption cases against 26 Nepal Electricity Authority officials, including Managing Director Rameshwor Yadav and four suppliers, on charges of embezzling more than Rs 410 million while supplying transformers to the NEA .

A charge sheet filed at the Special Court states that the NEA lost a whopping Rs 318,205,574 to purchase 1,260 transformers in first phase and Rs 93,634,997 to buy 735 transformers in the second phase two years ago. The NEA itself had bought transformers in the first phase, while World Bank funds were used in the second time.

NEA MD Yadav, former MD Jibendra Jha; former acting MD Tikaram BC; former MD Chiranjivi Sharma Poudel; Deputy Director Harish Bahadur Pal; accountants Suresh Kumar Katuwal and Sushil Kumar Khanal; Manager Sendhu Yadav; Assistant Managers Surendra Bahadur Paneru and Shekhar Kumar Datta; Managers Surendra Kumar Joshi and Kailash Kumar Atal, store chief Narayan Prasad Chaudhary and assistant store chief Saroj Shreshta are held responsible in the first lot of the tender process.

Similarly, Li Dao Gu, chairman of Hubei Sunlight Electronic Company Ltd and Managing Director Hu Zheng Qiang and their representatives Zou Yi Tian and Amar Rajbhnadri are found guilty in the first tender process.

CIAA officials said MD Yadav, Mahesh Prasad Achayra, Dev Sharma Poudel, Krishna Bahadur Thapa, Krishna Bahadur KC and Bharat Bahadur Rupadkheti, Pramod Rijal, Madan Raj Chapagian and Prajwal Pande stood accused of irregularities in the second phase of the transformer purchase process. The suppliers were also responsible. The accused were produced at the court on Sunday.

The charge sheet urges the court to sentence the accused government officials to 10 years’ imprisonment and the Chinese suppliers to two years.

The probe carried out by the anti-graft body found that aluminum-made transformers were supplied contrary to the provision of purchasing transformers made of copper. CIAA officials say the NEA had supplied sub-standard transformers from China and Thailanad worth Rs 5 billion earlier too.

So far the CIAA investigated into the irregularities involving the purchase of sub-standard transformers from Hubei Sunlight Electric Co Ltd of China. The remaining Thai supplier companies—Sahabhant Electronic Co Ltd and four Chinese companies Shenyang Dongneng Electricity Equipment Co Ltd, Hubei Sunlight Electric Co Ltd, SVR Electrical Pvt Ltd and Sichuan Dongfang Transformer Co Ltd—are still under the scrutiny of the anti-graft body.

Stand accused

NEA :

Rameshor Yadav, MD

Jibendra Jha, former MD

Tikaram BC, former acting MD

Chiranjivi Sharma Poudel, MD

Harish Bdr Pal, deputy director

Suresh K Katuwal, accountant

Sushil Kumar Khanal, accountant

Sendhu Yadav, manager

Surendra Bahadur Paneru, assistant aanager

Shekhar Kumar Datta, assistant manager

Surendra Kumar Joshi, manager

Kailash Kumar Atal, manager

Narayan Prasad Chaudhary, store chief

Saroj Shreshta, assistant store chief

HUBEI ELECTRONIC PVT:

Li Dao Gu, chairman

Hu Zheng Qiang, managing director

Mr Zou Yi Tian, Chinese representative

Amar Rajbhnadri, Nepal representative

OTHERS:

Mahesh Prasad Yadav

Dev Sharma Poudel

Krishna Bahadur Thapa

Krishna Bahadur KC

Bharat Shreshta

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