Corruption case filed against 14 individuals including former Minister Karki

Kathmandu: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a case against 14 individuals, including the then Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, at the Special Court on charges of corruption during the construction of the Pokhara Regional International Airport.

The CIAA has filed the case alleging financial irregularities by giving tax exemptions to the contractor company during the construction of the airport, contrary to the provisions of the original agreement, shared the Commission’s Assistant Spokesperson Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari.

In this case, the Commission has sought recovery of Rs 3.62 billion from those accused.

Others named in the chargesheet include then Finance Minister Karki, Finance Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari, then Tourism Secretary Maheshwor Neupane, then Joint Secretaries Suresh Acharya and Danduraj Ghimire, former Secretary (then Joint Secretary) Kewal Bhandari, then Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority Sanjeev Gautam and outgoing Director General Pradeep Adhikari, Deputy Secretary Yubaraj Pandey, Section Officer Urmila Bhandari, and Engineer Yogesh Aryal.

Also named as accused in the case are the contractor, the Chinese company CAMC, its chair, the project manager, and the company manager.

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