Banking News – Nepal’s Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 11 individuals, including former chairpersons Khim Bahadur Sawad, Padam Singh Sawad, and Harka Bahadur Budha of the Malika Community Forest User Group in Surkhet, accusing them of embezzling public funds.

The anti-graft body filed the case at the Special Court on Monday, alleging that the accused caused financial losses to public property through fraudulent activities.

According to the CIAA, an investigation launched following a public complaint found that between fiscal years 2072/73 and 2078/79 (2015/16–2021/22), the accused prepared fake bills and payment vouchers and secured audit approval to misappropriate community forest funds. The alleged fraud involved expenditures claimed under various activities, including bush clearance, fire line construction, grass plantation, tree plantation, forest guard salaries, buffalo and goat farming, wildfire control, and beehive management.

The investigation further revealed that of the Rs. 2.858 million generated from timber sales in FY 2072/73, approximately Rs. 1.643 million was allegedly embezzled. Similarly, Rs. 513,000 out of Rs. 1.618 million earned in FY 2073/74, Rs. 1.365 million out of Rs. 1.575 million in FY 2074/75, and Rs. 390,000 during FY 2075/76 and FY 2076/77 were also allegedly misappropriated.

The CIAA stated that the accused have been charged under Sections 17 and 19(10) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002, and has sought appropriate punishment through a charge sheet filed at the Special Court, Kathmandu.