Life imprisonment proposed for banking frauds worth more than 1 billion

Kathmandu January 19- Lawmakers have sought life imprisonment to those embezzling more than Rs1 billion in banks and financial institutions (BFIs).The new bill on Banking Offence and Punishment Act, has proposed 8-10 years of imprisonment for those committing such a fraud.
In their amendment proposal, lawmakers Prem Suwal, Dilli Prasad Kaphle and Anuradha Thapa Magar have demanded the government put in place such a provision.

Former Executive Director of Nepal Share Market and Finance Company Yogendra Shrestha and Former Managing Director of Capital Merchant and Finance Pawan Karki are among the fraudsters embezzling more than Rs1 billion.

A total of 12 lawmakers have filed 33 amendment proposals to the bill. Most of the proposals are related with extending the punishment to the bank fraudsters. In their proposals, the lawmakers have proposed 20-25 years of jail term to those committing frauds worth Rs100 million to Rs1 billion.

The bill has proposed 6-8 years’ jail for such fraudsters. The lawmakers have also sought an increase in the jail term to 12-15 years for those embezzling between Rs10 million and Rs100 million. The bill has provisioned 4-6 years of jail term for such frauds.

The bill has doubled the maximum jail term for those convicted of fraud in banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to 10 years from the current five years. However, the lawmakers have sought even stricter provisions.

These three lawmakers have also proposed that BFI staffers cannot enjoy more salary, facility and loans than civil servants.

Lawmaker Rewati Raman Bhandari has proposed BFIs must take decisions on providing loans within 45 days of the submission of all necessary documents. If not possible, they must provide a valid reason in written. Banks failing to do so should compensate double of the cost of the prospective borrowers.