CIAA files case against nine including sitting secretary on corruption charges

Kathmandu: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a case in the Special Court against nine people, including the sitting secretary and the managing director of Nepal Telecom, on corruption charges in the purchase of the national payment gateway.

A case has been filed against nine people, including then secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology and then chairperson of the National Information Technology Centre Sanjaya Sharma. The national payment gateway purchased six years ago in collusion with the executive director of the National Information Technology Centre has not been used so far.

The CIAA has filed a case because it was found that the property of the government was illegally damaged and misused by purchasing the gateway at an ‘unnatural’ cost of Rs. 250 million without preparing necessary infrastructures, it has been said.

In the case, the defendants are then executive director of the Centre Pranita Upadhyay, then deputy executive director of the Centre and sitting managing director of Nepal Telecom Sunil Paudel, Nepal Telecom deputy director Safal Shrestha, then secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Madhu Kumar Marasini, then assistant director of the Centre Ramesh Prasad Pokharel, account officers Nim Bahadur Oli and Ram Bahadur Budha and computer engineer Ram Sharan Gayak.

The CIAA has claimed the recovery of amounts equal to over Rs. 232 million misappropriated by the former secretary Sharma, NTC managing director Paudel, account officer Budha, then assistant director of the Centre Pokharel, and secretary Marasini.

Similarly, it has claimed the recovery of amounts equal to more than Rs. 1.7 million misappropriated by NTC’s deputy director Shrestha, and over Rs. 8.9 million by account officer Oli.

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