Kathmandu, April 15

The Problematic Cooperatives Wealth Management Committee led by former chairman of the Special Court Gauri Bahadur Karki, has sought claims from victims of Oriental Cooperative.

Victims of Oriental Cooperative and apartment projects initiated by Oriental Builders and Developers and other construction companies initiated by chairman of Oriental Cooperative and realty trader Sudheer Basnet can submit their claims through various coordination offices of the committee in each province from today till May 20.

Victims can submit their claims from Biratnagar, Birgunj, Lalitpur, Pokhara, Nepalgunj, Surkhet and Dhangadi. While submitting the claim, a victim should submit proof of savings amount in the cooperative; share certificates; proof of loan issued to the construction company and other projects; details of fixed property collateral and citizenship certificate, said Karki.

Basnet is currently in police custody. He was operating various companies, including housing projects. His housing projects had collected money from the public promising to provide apartments. The housing projects had even sold flats of multi-storey buildings without acquiring permission from the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.

Government agencies, banks and financial institutions that have been affected can also submit their claims.

Many banks and financial institutions, including government-owned Rastriya Banijya Bank and Employee Provident Fund, had financed Oriental’s housing projects.

The Karki-led committee formed in November has already started identifying the property of Oriental Cooperative and its board of directors. It has also been tasked with recovering loans floated by the cooperative. The responsibility of the entire property management falls under the jurisdiction of the committee.

The committee will calculate the liability by verifying submitted claims. The Cooperative Act issued six months ago has a provision that the government has to fill the gap between liability and assets in case the liability is higher than assets.

The property owned by Basnet will also be seized and liquidated in a bid to settle the liability created by the cooperative and apartment projects initiated by Basnet.

The committee has been given authority to settle the liability of the cooperative through liquidation of seized property.

The Department of Cooperatives has already frozen the property of problematic cooperatives. Travel documents of the promoters of concerned problematic cooperatives have also been seized.

The committee led by Karki has said that the claims of depositors, outstanding dues to the government, those that had made advance payments for apartments and those who provided loans for the housing projects of the cooperative will be gradually rebated after liquidation of Oriental’s property.

Oriental is the biggest defrauder, misusing an eye-popping Rs 4.20 billion in deposits and Rs 1.36 billion parked by customers for housing projects. Oriental had embezzled deposits of 11,840 customers according to the committee.