Former Nepal Bank chair in hot water over alleged bribe in loan deal

KATHMANDU, JULY 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against former Chairperson of Nepal Bank Limited, Dr. Chandra Bahadur Adhikari, along with four others, on the charges of accepting bribes in exchange for facilitating a loan.

According to the CIAA, Dr. Adhikari accepted a bribe while assuring support in the loan process from Nepal Bank. The commission claims he took NPR 1.9 million in return for facilitating a loan of NPR 1.7729 billion for a project under Bhusal Hospitality, located in Belahiya, Ward No. 1 of Siddharthanagar Municipality, Rupandehi.

It was found that after Bhusal Hospitality submitted the required documents to the bank for the loan process, Dr. Adhikari held multiple meetings with Bhusal Hospitality Chairman Balkrishna Bhusal and his son Ankit Bhusal, and also communicated through social media. The investigation revealed that in collusion with a co-defendant, Khus Nasib Ansari, also known as "Lucky," Dr. Adhikari received two bribe payments—NPR 700,000 and NPR 1.2 million—via checks from different individuals in August 2024.

CIAA Spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Paudel stated that the commission has demanded recovery of the same amount as compensation from all five accused: Dr. Adhikari, Khus Nasib Ansari, Amrit Bhusal, Ankit Bhusal, and Balkrishna Bhusal.

In a separate incident, Dr. Adhikari was also found to have demanded a bribe of NPR 5 million from the proprietor of Akala Devi Traders, a company based in Abukhaireni, Tanahun, in exchange for facilitating a loan process. The corruption watchdog has filed a separate claim demanding recovery of this amount as well.