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But the Center for Investigative Journalism Nepal says politicians appear to be in collusion with their business partners because no investigation was opened after its 2019 NepalLeaks investigation into the Panama Papers which revealed the names of dozens of Nepalese with offshore companies. illegal.
“The silence of regulatory bodies seems to encourage Nepalese investments in tax havens. Pandora Papers is the result of this surprising silence â€, declares the CIJ.
The other major Nepalese business house involved in the Pandora Papers is the Golchha Organization. Leaked documents show that he also owns offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) under the names of his patriarch Lokmanya Golchha, his brothers the late Diwakar Golchha, the late Mahendra Kumar Golchha, his cousin Chandra Kumar Golchha and the son by Diwakar Hitesh Golchha.
Leaked documents reviewed by the ICJ show that a Geneva law firm named Overseas Management opened an account at Barclays Bank in Switzerland in 2008 in the name of Flatwood Limited operated by members of the Golchha family. The paper trail also shows that Diwakar Golchha bought shares of Eastern Sugar Mills Limited in Nepal in 2008 through Flatwood Limited.
The Golchha organization is one of the pioneering industrial houses in Nepal and its founders established the Biratnagar jute mill almost 70 years ago. In fact, the NepalLeaks 2019 mentioned that Golchha Organization was the first Nepalese company to attract foreign investment from the British Virgin Islands via Flatwood to operate businesses in Nepal.
Earlier ICJ investigations in 2017 showed that, as part of a dubious deal, the Eastern Sugar Mills in Golchha was authorized by the Tax Settlement Commission to pay only Rs 400,000 when owed to the treasury. 52 million rupees in back taxes. Two members of the Commission and the head of the Inland Revenue Department continue to face corruption charges before the Special Court for granting allegedly illegal tax breaks to the Golchhas.
Political links
Like Binod Chaudhary, Diwakar Golchha was also appointed by the Nepalese Congress to the Constituent Assembly-Parliament in 2008, showing the political connections of many of the businessmen named in ICIJ documents.
The other person with close ties to the leadership of the Maoist Center is Ajeya Sumargi Parajuli, who was exposed to ICJ NepalLeaks for allegedly transferring money from Nepal to tax havens for allegedly ill-gotten wealth from politicians. And NepalLeaks documents also showed that Zhodar Investments from Sumargi to BVI transferred $ 48,372,222 to its businesses in Nepal in 2010. Zhodar co-owner is Cypriot national Sotirios Pittas, lawyer and business partner of Sumargi, according to the documents. disclosed.
According to Pandora Papers, Sumargi also invested in Worldwide Incredible Limited in BVI in 2011, and several other companies based in the tax haven. Some of the BVI money was transferred indirectly to Sumargi companies in Nepal including Hetauda Lime Industry Pvt Ltd, Everest Mineral Products Pvt Ltd, Muktishree Pvt Ltd, according to Pandora Papers.
The CIJ also discovered leaked documents showing that Sumargi’s other company, The New Digitek, had been granted permission to hold 50% of the shares in Nepalese mobile companies, including Nepal Telecom Private Limited.
Also among the Pandora Papers is a slew of emails from BVI attorneys at Trident Trust Limited who warned that action would be taken if Sumargi did not provide the mandatory information for Zhodar Investments.
Browsing through the Pandora Papers, ICJ investigative journalists Krishna Acharya and Ramu Sapkota also discovered that Sumargi’s business partner in Nepal, Arjun Prasad Sharma, had also registered a company in the BVI in 2019.
In a convoluted money trail involving several other shell companies, Sharma and Sumargi reportedly worked in 2019 with the same Cypriot investment firm, Sotioris Pittas & Co LLC.
Other names
Other prominent people named in the Pandora Papers leaks are Radhe Shyam Saraf and his family, who own the Taragaon Regency Hotel and the Yak & Yeti Hotel in Kathmandu. Documents examined by the ICJ appear to show that the family funneled money through companies in the British Virgin Islands to invest in Nepal.
The CIJ also found documents in the leaked documents showing that the Saraf family is involved in companies in Belize, Lichtenstein and Mauritius and that there appear to be questions regarding their investments in Hyatt International.
Saraf had previously been embroiled in a controversy in Nepal over the ownership of Taragaon and was investigated by the Auditor General’s Office, the anti-corruption agency and the Ministry of Tourism.
Other Nepalese businessmen mentioned in the Pandora Papers who have invested in shell companies suspected of offshore tax havens are Rajendra Shakya, Purushottam Poudyal, Sudhir Mittal and others.
Detailed report on the Pandora Papers in Nepalese and English from the Center for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJ): https://cijnepal.org.np
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