The investigation report, which is near completion, further states that those involved in releasing the money are found guilty of ignoring the monitoring aspect before forwarding the money to the APC supplier.
A highly placed source at the CIAA disclosed to Republica that no follow-up was done on the APCs and other security related logistics supplied before sending the money. [break]
"Our investigation is about to be complete. We are all set to grill police top brass for finalizing the report," said the source, adding, "Our investigation to date shows that the payment was made without assessing the quality and standard of the APCs and other logistics."
Two investigation teams -- one led by lawmaker Pradip Gyawali and another by Home Ministry officials -- had concluded that around Rs 300 million was embezzled while procuring the APCs and other logistics for Nepali peacekeepers deployed in Darfur, Sudan.
The CIAA has already interrogated more than three dozen police officers in connection with the procurement deal reached two years ago.
"We will come up with a decision on when to file case in the Sudan scam shortly after grilling police top brass involved in the payment process," the source said.
The government and parliament had formed committees to probe the matter following media reports that Nepal Police provided obsolete, substandard and non-functional APCs to its peacekeepers.
The source said they decided to grill high-ranking police officers following statements recorded by junior officers.
According to the source, those grilled by the commission to date have implicated senior police officers including former IGPs Om Bikram Rana and Hem Bahadur Gurung and incumbent IGP Ramesh Chand Thakuri in the alleged irregularities. "We will summon former IGPs Rana and Gurung and incumbent IGP Thakuri to record their statements" the CIAA source added.
The source also informed Republica that a huge amount of money was released to the APC supplier during the tenure of former IGP Gurung and incumbent IGP Thakuri. "Gurung and Thakuri will have to face serious charges of embezzlement in this matter," said the source.
The source further added that the investigation has not found former home minister Krishna Sitaula and former home secretary Umesh Mainali guilty.
Asked whether they are also summoning Sitaula and Mainali for interrogations, the CIAA source said, “Summoning Sitaula and Mainali depends on the statements to be recorded by the former and serving IGPs.”
The source indicated that the commission will come up with its final investigation report within 15 to 20 days.
The UN had drawn the attention of the Nepal government to the insecure conditions under which Nepal Police peacekeepers have been working. In addition, the government was cautioned that the mission could be declared non-functional if APCs are not supplied to them at the earliest.
The CIAA had begun its investigations following the findings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC had recommended to the government to seriously investigate the scam.
Following the UN letter, the Madhav Kumar Nepal government had decided nearly a month ago to procure APCs again, through competitive bidding.
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