The Kaski District Attorney’s Office has filed a supplementary chargesheet against Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, chairman of Suryadarshan Cooperative, and 18 others in connection with a large-scale cooperatives fraud case.

The chargesheet, submitted on Friday, include accusations of organised crime and money laundering alongside the earlier allegations of cooperative fraud.

Among the accused are the cooperative’s vice-chair Kailash Kumar Darlami and treasurer Kumar Ramtel. Six of the defendants of the case are in custody at Kaski police, three are detained in other districts, while 10 remain at large, according to District Attorney Kamala Kafle.

This supplementary filing follows the initial case filed in October 2023, which accused 19 individuals of cooperative fraud. The new charges aim to strengthen the case by incorporating claims of financial irregularities under organised crime and asset laundering laws.

Additionally, the attorney officials have announced plans to submit charges against five other detainees, including Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Rabi Lamichhane, who is in custody in Kaski for over two months for investigations on fraud charges, on Sunday. The case against Lamichhane will similarly include charges of cooperative frauds, organised crime, and money laundering.

Chhabilal Joshi, a former DIG who was arrested on September 22, has reached the 90-day maximum detention period permitted for investigation. The government’s attorney office confirmed that charges against Joshi and the others will be filed before the deadline to allow further judicial proceedings.

The Kaski District Court is set to record statements of the accused after the charges are officially registered. A detention hearing will follow to determine whether the accused will remain in custody during the trial.

Lamichhane and Joshi, among others, have been accused of diverting deposits from Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Cooperative, Butwal-based Supreme Cooperative, Chitwan-based Sahara Cooperative, Kathmandu-based Swarnalaxmi Cooperative and Parsa-based Sano Paila Cooperative to Gorkha Media Network that ran the now-defunct Galaxy 4K Television. Lamichhane, Joshi and Rai, among others, were partners in the media company. Lamichhane quit the media company to join politics in June 2022.

A special parliamentary probe panel formed to investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives has recommended the concerned government authorities to investigate Lamichhane, Rai and Joshi, among others, on charges of cooperative frauds.