Rastriya Swatantra Party chairperson and former home minister Rabi Lamichhane appeared at the Kathmandu District Court on Sunday in connection with the Kathmandu-based Swarnalakshmi Cooperative fraud case.

Lamichhane, who was released on bail by the Kaski District Court on Thursday in a separate fraud case involving the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Cooperative, arrived in Kathmandu on Friday. The Kaski court had ordered his release on a bail amount of Rs6.5 million after 84 days in custody.

On January 5, The Kathmandu District Government Attorney’s Office, based on police investigations, registered the case against Lamichhane and 38 others at the Kathmandu court.

The accused include former board members of Gorkha Media Pvt Ltd and key officials of the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative. Among them are former vice chair Chhabilal Joshi, chair Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, vice chair Devendra Babu Rai, treasurer Kumar Ramtel, secretary Iran Lama, joint secretary Kabita Tamang, and members Hemant Adhikari, Rabina Rimal, and former chair Deepak Lama. They are accused of misappropriating funds amounting to Rs1.199 billion.

Also, former treasurer Sabina Alemagar, members Bhakta Bahadur Bholan, Sabita Lama, former Secretary Pradeep Lama, accounts coordinator Ganeshraj Shrestha, and former committee members Kalpana Kumari Shrestha and Raju Baral, among others, have been chargesheeted in the case.

The charges include allegations of cooperative fraud and organised financial crimes. The police investigation suggests the funds were systematically mismanaged and diverted, prompting legal action against 39 individuals.

Police have been investigating them on charges of embezzling funds from cooperatives based in Butwal, Chitwan and Parsa as well.