GB Rai still at large as Rs 21 billion cooperative scam deepens

Fugitive businessman GB Rai, accused of embezzling more than Rs 21 billion from depositors via over a dozen cooperatives, has evaded arrest for five years. Despite Nepal Police locating him in Malaysia, his apprehension and extradition have not occurred, while his personal companies, allegedly funded by cooperative savings, continue to operate. This ongoing situation unfolds against a backdrop of four different prime ministers and numerous court cases filed against Rai.

The state mechanism appears paralyzed, with the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, the Department of Cooperatives, the Cooperative Authority, police, courts, and provincial and local governments reportedly passing responsibility between offices. Suman Khanal, coordinator of the Swarnalakshmi Cooperative Victims’ Struggle Committee, expressed shock at the government's apparent helplessness, suggesting state protection enables Rai's continued evasion.

Rai allegedly invested cooperative funds into his private companies, such as Nature Herbs and Gorkha Ayurveda Pvt Ltd. These businesses remain operational, but depositors have received no information regarding their status. An audit of Swarnalakshmi Cooperative revealed that out of Rs 3.71 billion in deposits as of July 2022, Rs 3.10 billion was allegedly misappropriated as loans.

Police investigations have detailed specific investments of cooperative funds into companies like Herbo International Pvt Ltd (Rs 102.79 million), GB Group of Companies Pvt Ltd (Rs 16.9 million), Gorkha Herbal Production Pvt Ltd (Rs 18.2 million), and Gorkha Group of Companies (Rs 4 million). The investigation report has been submitted to the government attorney's office. Companies linked to Rai include Gorkha Herbal, Galaxy 4K TV, Nature Herbs, and GB Group.

Depositors, who have been waiting years for their savings, have petitioned the Bagmati Province Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to declare cooperatives linked to Rai as "problematic institutions." However, this official designation has not yet occurred, and inquiries about the delay are met with vague responses.

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Can a government really fail to even know where one of its own citizens is or what he is doing? This is clearly because the state itself has protected him. Otherwise, he would have already been arrested and brought back.