KATHMANDU, March 16: Former Director General of the Department of Revenue, Jhalakram Adhikari, who had previously slipped through scrutiny in the gold smuggling scandal, is now in the crosshairs of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The CIAA has filed a case against Adhikari at the Special Court, accusing him of taking a Rs 7 million bribe. Alongside Adhikari, three others have been charged with bribery and money laundering.
According to the CIAA, Adhikari allegedly accepted Rs 7 million from Shrikrishna Shrestha Bijju, director of HK Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., in return for facilitating an investigation into revenue leakage.
Two years ago, Adhikari had been implicated in a 60-kilogram gold smuggling case. At that time, it was revealed that he had communicated via chat with a China-based Belgian national smuggler, Dawa Chiring, while serving as head of the Department of Immigration. Adhikari was accused of enabling gold smuggling through pumps and other methods during his tenure. Those earlier charges did not result in punishment, but he now faces a money laundering case.
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During the CIAA investigation, it emerged that Adhikari had routed the bribe money through multiple individuals’ bank accounts, converting it into different forms. The funds were cycled through various accounts to repay loans and purchase land, the CIAA said.
Adhikari secured his post as Revenue Department DG during the tenure of then-Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, leveraging his influence in Budhanilkantha and Baluwatar. The CIAA claims he arranged the bribe deal just a month after taking office.
Initially, he used Rs 2 million of the bribe to repay a loan. The case states that on August 9, 2022, Shrikrishna Shrestha gave Rs 2 million to Adhikari via three cheques from his company, HK Enterprises. Of the total Rs 7 million bribe, Rs 0.7 million was taken under the name of Mamata Puri, Rs 0.6 million under Mission Lamichhane, and another Rs 0.7 million under Devraj Aryal.
All three cheques were deposited into an account at Lumbini Bikas Bank in the name of Devendra KC by Devraj Aryal, an employee of “The Kuti Resort,” according to the CIAA charge sheet. Sources say Adhikari also holds shares in The Kuti Resort. The CIAA investigation revealed that the bribe money was used to repay the resort’s overdraft and fixed-term loan, effectively laundering the funds.
On October 13, 2022, Adhikari allegedly took another Rs 5 million bribe from Shrikrishna Shrestha under the name of developer Kumar Chapagain. Chapagain deposited the money into his own account at Laxmi Bank before passing it to Adhikari. Another cheque for Rs 5 million was issued in the name of Narendra Prasad Neupane, according to the charge sheet.
This money was used to purchase 164.14 square metres of land in Divyashwori, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality-17, Bhaktapur. Adhikari allegedly attempted to legitimise the Rs 7 million bribe by cycling it through multiple bank accounts, including Global IME Bank, Lumbini Bikas Bank and Laxmi Sunrise Bank.
Although previously implicated in the 60-kilogram gold smuggling case, the government had still assigned him responsibilities. After his involvement in the gold smuggling case was revealed, he was relieved of duty on August 24, 2023, but later transferred to the Nepal Trust office. He was reassigned duties in February 2024.
Adhikari, known to be close to former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, had previously communicated with smuggling kingpin Dawa about large-scale deals. He had also sent photos and documents of water pumps used in gold smuggling, which were later found in Dawa’s warehouse.
