Police arrested Ishwori Prasad Pokharel, 32, from Bhairawa on Monday. Pokharel, who has a bachelor´s degree in mathematics, is so far known to have conned at least four bankers with bogus documents and bank accounts in the names of Maoist leaders like Netra Bikram Chand and Himal Sharma, police said. [break]
According to Metropolitan Police Commissioner´s Office (MPCO), Pokharel was able to cheat Kamal Gyawali, Kist Bank CEO, Sushil Chettri, NMB Bank CEO, and a manager of Karnali Bikash Bank (name yet to be disclosed) after getting them to deposit Rs 1,200,000 Rs 950,000 and Rs 450,000 respectively in bank accounts opened in Chand´s name. He also wheedled Rs 500,000 out of Sanjeev Neupane, CEO of Madhyapaschimanchal Gramin Bikash Bank in Nepalgunj, who deposited the amount in a bogus bank account in the name of Himal Sharma.
Pokharel had opened accounts at Nabil Bank and Bank of Kathmandu using fake citizenship certificates in the names of Chand and Sharma.
Pokharel, a resident of Torbang-6, Salyan, was in the Indian army for five years from 1998 to 2003.
For ´Vengeance´
The confident-looking alleged fraudster, who has settled at Bardaghat in Nawalparasi with a wife and daughter, claimed that his activities were solely meant to defame the UCPN (Maoist), adding: “I am not someone who needs to do all this.”
“They abducted me in 2003 while I was at home in Salyan on leave and kept me in a labor camp. Because of my absence for six consecutive months, the Indian army sacked me,” he said.
“After I fled the Maoist labor camp, I started plotting to defame the Maoists by way of revenge. I chose to cheat the banks in the name of Maoist leaders,” he told Republica at MPCO on Tuesday.
A team from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) headed by DSP Hridaya Thapa had tracked Pokharel for several weeks, acting on a complaint lodged by Kist Bank CEO Gyawali.
Pokharel, who lucidly explained his ´plan and rationale´ to reporters, cheated the bankers after several transaction episodes. “I initially returned the amounts I borrowed as I needed to build trust to eventually get my hands on bigger amounts.”
“They simply complied as I identified myself as a Maoist leader. It also shows how easily bankers bow before the names of Maoists," he added.
Police, however, portray Pokharel as a cunning fraudster. “He is also known to have stolen Indian rupees 850,000 from a shop in New Delhi,” said SSP Madhav Nepal, MPCO spokesman. “With that amount he bought land in Nawalparasi.”
Police have also seized a brand-new Picanto car (Ba.8.Cha 4899) that he bought recently.
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