Nepal's only billionaire Binod Chaudhary under probe for alleged land grab

Binod Chaudhary, Nepal’s only billionaire and a member of the Nepali Congress in the lower house of the Federal Parliament, is currently being investigated by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) for his involvement in a government land-grab case.

The investigation focuses on allegations of Chaudhary privatising land that belonged to the Bansbari Shoe Factory, a state-owned entity.

The CIB, as part of its ongoing investigation, has formally notified the House Speaker of Nepal’s Parliament, Dev Raj Ghimire, about the case against Chaudhary.

This was done through a letter submitted by Hobindra Bogati, a senior officer at CIB, which detailed the investigation against Chaudhary for embezzlement related to the land.

Chaudhary faces accusations of illegally acquiring approximately 54758.621 square feet (10 ropani) of land from the government-operated Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory, which has since ceased operations.

The land, according to allegations, was transferred to Champion Footwear through an unlawful agreement. Chaudhary is said to have later renamed the company to CG Chandbagh Residency Pvt, asserting ownership.

The CIB has issued a deadline for Chaudhary to present his case to the investigative authorities by Thursday morning, warning that failure to comply may lead to his arrest.

It is alleged that he later gave the land to his brother, Arun Chaudhary, who now operates CG Chandbagh School on the seized property. An investigation had found that the Nepali billionaire, like his brother Arun Chaudhary, holds shares in Champion Footwear Company, a venture implicated in acquiring government land from the Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory.

Documents also revealed that Arun, the younger brother, has 200 shares in Champion Footwear Limited.

Despite his brother’s arrest in connection with this case, Binod Chaudhary was not arrested. The documents indicate that the 200 shares, valued at 2 lakh, are part of an agreement specifying that the company should hold 2,500 shares of Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory.

It is also noted in the document that Binod Chaudhary’s ’s father, Lunkarandas Chaudhary, owns more than 2100 shares in the Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory.

With inputs from PTI