Nepal’s former speaker among 28 charged in gold smuggling case

Kathmandu: Nepal’s former parliament speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and joint secretary Arun Pokharel have been named among 28 accused along with a travel company in a case of gold smuggling.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed the corruption case at the Special Court and has named Mahara, his son Rahul Mahara,

Pokharel, then customs chief at Tribhuvan International Airport, and others as defendants, accusing them of facilitating the smuggling of gold concealed in electronic cigarettes.

The anti-graft body has estimated the loss to the state at NPR 77.86 million due to the smuggling and is seeking its recovery from the accused.

According to Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari, assistant spokesperson at the CIAA, the defendants include Chinese, Indian and Belgian nationals among others.

The case came to light on December 25, 2022, when a smuggling network attempted to bring gold hidden inside vape devices from Dubai.

Investigations found that smugglers concealed gold inside 730 vape units packed in 73 boxes and transported them via Tribhuvan International Airport to a customs warehouse.

The gold weighed around nine kilograms, but much of it later went missing.