Kathmandu. Kedar Prasad Gautam, an officer working at the Swayambhu branch of the Agricultural Development Bank, has been accused of misusing the weakness in the bank’s system to defraud him of Rs 339.33 million. The case came to light again after the police filed a case against one of the main defendants in the case, Rajiv Thapa, Krishna Hari Thapa.
Gautam used his colleague’s user ID to create fake remittance transactions and approve them using his own ID. The money was then transferred to fake accounts opened at various branches and cash was withdrawn. Investigations revealed that people including Krishna Hari Thapa alias Rajiv Thapa were also involved in this work.
According to the investigation, Gautam used the proceeds of the scam to pay off loans, buy expensive jewellery, spend it on parties and luxuries and arrange for a stay in India. He even tried to hide in India by changing his identity.
Gautam and his partner Rajiv Thapa have been sentenced to 8 years in jail each. It is said that all the money from the scam is yet to be recovered. During the course of the investigation, around Rs 1 crore worth of money and property were recovered.
The case also raised serious questions as to how vulnerabilities in the bank’s core banking system, employee user IDs and internal control systems could be used as a vehicle for major financial crimes.
Agriculture Development Bank is a notorious bank in the case of scams and spending money to buy awards.
