KATHMANDU, JUNE 22 The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against 16 individuals, including senior officials of the Department of Passports and representatives of two foreign companies, alleging irregularities in the procurement of e-passport systems and booklets that caused a loss of more than Rs 10.13 billion to the state. The case, filed on Monday, centres on two procurement packages floated by the Department of Passports for an electronic machine-readable travel document (eMRTD) system and passport booklet personalisation services. The CIAA said investigations found serious irregularities from the very start of the bidding process, with government officials and representatives of German companies Muehlbauer ID Services GmbH and Veridos GmbH colluding to manipulate tender conditions and evaluation criteria to ensure the contracts were awarded to those firms. According to the anti-graft body, the accused officials altered bid terms and standards in violation of the Public Procurement Act 2063 and Public Procurement Regulations 2064, conducted flawed technical and financial evaluations, and made incorrect recommendations and decisions to steer the contracts toward the two companies. Partial payments were also made under the agreements, the commission said. The CIAA has named Department of Passports Director General Tirtha Raj Aryal, Information Technology Director Sunil Kumar KC, former directors Shatrudhwan Prasad Sharma Pokharel and Rabindra Rajbhandari, former accounts officer Tulsi Prasad Acharya, computer engineer Bipin Prasai, former section officer Somesh Thapa, and three former under-secretaries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rajarama Dahal, Bhes Prasad Bhurtel and Pushkar Raj Nepal; as defendants. The anti-graft body has sought recovery of Rs 10.13 billion and an additional Rs 184.4 million allegedly spent unlawfully, along with imprisonment and fines under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Director General Aryal faces an additional penalty under Section 24 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2059. The CIAA has also filed charges against Muehlbauer ID Services GmbH and its representatives Gerhard Maurer, Pavle Rakic and Manindra Raj Malla, seeking recovery of Rs 1.90 billion, and against Veridos GmbH and its representatives Fabiola Bellersheim, Florian Pacquelin and Siddhartha Thapa, seeking recovery of Rs 8.22 billion. Both companies face charges as legal entities under Section 23 (ka) of the Anti-Corruption Act covering abetment and corporate liability. The CIAA said the total government loss from the procurement fraud stood at Rs 10,13,04,61,477.01, over ten billion rupees, caused through the illegal benefit granted to the supplier companies at the expense of the Department of Passports and the state.