January 22: The Special Court has found Ichharaj Tamang, the director of Civil Savings and Credit Co-operative Limited and former member of parliament, guilty in a money laundering case.

The Special Court on Sunday convicted Tamang along with his wife. A division bench of Special Court chairperson Tek Narayan Kunwar and judges Hem Narayan Singh Rai and Murari Babu Shrestha convicted four people including Tamang. The court also found Ichharaj Tamang’s wife Srijana and their relatives Keshavraj Shrestha and Meena Kumari Shrestha guilty. Ichcharaj's two daughters Pratishka and Pratishta were acquitted by the court.

According to the Special Court’s spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Karki, a separate bench on February 4 will decide on their punishment. Legal professionals have estimated that Tamang may be sentenced to more than three years in prison.

The Department of Money Laundering Investigation had filed a case against Ichcharaj along with his wife Srjana and two daughters Pratishka and Pratishtha on charges of money laundering on September 1, 2022. The case was filed alleging the Tamang family of illegally investing the funds of the cooperative in their private companies and investing the profits elsewhere.

The Tamang couple invested the amount deposited in the cooperative in other companies owned by Ichharaj and his family. After Tamang failed to repay the principal and interest, the cooperative went bankrupt and was unable to return the money to the depositors. About 1,400 people who deposited their money in the cooperative are yet to receive their money back.

The department had filed a charge-sheet against Tamang alleging him of illegally amassing assets worth over Rs 3.31 billion. The has demanded recovery of Rs 3.318 billion for the alleged illegal acquisition, with additional claims of Rs 1.30 billion against his wife Srijana, Rs 62.2 million against daughter Pratikchya, and Rs 1.89 million against Pratistha. According to the charge-sheet, the Tamang family has to pay a total amount of Rs 4.43 billion.

By the time the case was filed, Tamang’s wife Srijana had already divorced her husband.

Initially, the investigation against Tamang was undertaken by the Central Bureau of Investigation after receiving a complaint in a fraud case. During the investigation, the CIB forwarded the file to the department after he was found involved in money laundering.