Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The District Government Attorney’s Office on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 42 TAG_OPEN_span_156 people associated with an insurance company at the Kathmandu District Court TAG_OPEN_span_155 TAG_CLOSE_span_156 on the charge of involvement under the Insurance Act. With the charge sheet being filed, more than 40 employees including Chief Executive Officer of Himalayan Reinsurance Company Upasana Poudel and incumbent directors, office-bearers and employees of the insurance company have been suspended.
A total of 42 persons including directors of various insurance companies, including micro insurance companies, Himalayan Reinsurance Company, Himalayan Life Insurance and their subsidiaries, investment committees and top management have been named as defendants in this TAG_OPEN_span_153 TAG_CLOSE_span_154 case.TAG_OPEN_span_154
According to Section 142 of the Insurance Act, 2079, if a case is filed in the court of law, the incumbent officer, director or employee of such company will be automatically suspended until the case is settled.TAG_OPEN_p_207 The details of the accused suspended under the same section are as follows:
1. Nepal Micro Insurance Company Ltd. Officers of:
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Ashish Shrestha – The then Chairman
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TAG_OPEN_p_205 Mrigendra Nath Rimal – Chief Executive Officer
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Siddhant Jhunjhunwala – Director Member
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Latika Golyan – Director Member
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Sunita Shrestha – Board Member
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Anup Malakar – Director Member
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Badri Sigdel – Director Member
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TAG_OPEN_p_199 Prabina Dahal – Board Member & Chairperson of Investment Committee
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Sujal Malla – Investment Committee Member
2. Himalayan Reinsurance Ltd. Officers of:
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Shekhar Golchha – The then Chairman
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Upasana Paudel – Chief Executive Officer
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Amit Mor – Operator
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Shahil Agarwal – Member of the Board of Directors and Convenor of the Investment Committee
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Rohit Gupta – Board of Directors Member
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Rajiv Mor – Operator
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Mashek Kharel – Operator
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Subhash Kumar Jhunjhunwala – Operator
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Manish Kumar – Investment Committee Member
3. Himalaya Securities Banker Ltd. and subsidiaries:
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Subhash Bahadur Shrestha – Chief Executive Officer, Himalaya Securities Banker Ltd.TAG_OPEN_p_188
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TAG_OPEN_p_187 Deepak Kumar Shrestha – Chairman of Board of Directors, Himalaya Securities Banker Ltd.
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TAG_OPEN_p_186 Sitaram Wagle – Director, Himalaya Securities Banker Ltd.
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TAG_OPEN_p_185 Akanksha Gupta – Director, Himalaya Securities Banker Ltd.
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TAG_OPEN_p_184 Shishir Gaihe – President, Himalayan Capserv Ltd.
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TAG_OPEN_p_183Ritesh Pradhan – Chief Executive Officer, Himalayan Capserv Ltd.
4. Officers of Himalayan Investment Banker:
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Kapil Kumar Dahal – Chairman of Board (He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Himalayan Life Insurance){{TAG_OPEN_p_182 TAG_CLOSE_p_182}}
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Rajan Prasad Adhikari – Board Member
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Binu Ghimire – Board Member
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Narayan Kumar Adhikari – Director Member
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Utsav Pradhananga – Board Member
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Vidur Puri – Former Operator
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Shumer Shamsher J.V.R. – Investment Coordinator and Immediate Chief Executive Officer (fired)
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Subhash Poudel – Investment Member & Chief Operating Officer
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Shalini Sanghai – Investment Member
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Pratik Joshi – Investment Member
5. Former officials of other affiliated bodies and regulators:
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Shulabh Agarwal – The then Chairman of the Board of Directors, Himalayan Life Insurance Ltd.
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TAG_OPEN_p_171 Deepak Bhatt – Chairman of Board of Directors, Infinity Holding Pvt. Ltd. (Prosecuted as the mastermind)
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Sandeep Chachan Agarwal – Executive Chairman, Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company Pvt. Ltd.TAG_OPEN_p_170 (Broker No. 55)
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Rishiraj Mor – Then Chairman, Crest Micro Life Insurance Ltd.
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Sharad Ojha – Former Chairman, Nepal Insurance Authority{
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TAG_OPEN_p_167 Madan Dahal – Former Chairman, Nepal Insurance Authority
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Shubhi Agarwal & Raj Bahadur Shah (businessman)
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During the emergency on-site inspection carried out by the Nepal Insurance Authority, it was found that Himalayan Reinsurance Company through Bhrikuti Stock Broking (Broker No. 55) had increased financial risk by breaching the total investment limit (15 percent) and causing loss to the organization by not recovering more than Rs 2.73 billion from the broker for a long time.TAG_OPEN_span_152 Theo.
Similarly, Nepal Micro Insurance Company has also invested 31.86 percent of its amount in the share market breaching the limit of 10 percent and TAG_OPEN_span_149 TAG_CLOSE_span_150 misappropriated the money without recovering Rs 161.7 million from the same broker.TAG_OPEN_span_150 The investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of Nepal Police has revealed that the defendants have systematically formed a criminal group among themselves and used the money of the insurance companies for personal gains to buy shares in the name of Deepak Bhatt and Sulav Agrawal and also tried to manipulate the price of TAG_OPEN_span_148 TAG_CLOSE_span_149 the securities.
} The charge sheet has demanded action including imprisonment and fine on the basis of their involvement in the crime.
If the offence under sub-section 1(g) of Section 140 of the Insurance Act is proved, the defendants shall be punished with the maximum legal action and all the said officials shall be under suspension from discharging any responsibility of the insurance business until the matter is sub-judice in the court under Section 142}.
