Gold Smuggling Arrests in Nepal: Business to Politics, None Spared
It's neither a political muck nor personal enmity. Could it be Law stress-test or is there more to it than what meets the eye?
In our previous post we wrote on recent gold smuggling event mentioning a business group questioned by authorities. Since then, there’s been series of foreign nationals, politically connected persons and government official arrests slowly unravelling the layers and nodes aiding the smuggling process. The recently drafted High level Commission on Gold Smuggling Report is the leading light.
While investigations are ongoing, few things stand out for us at NI. First, arrests of politically connected persons once close to the incumbent government. Second, some sense that all clues during questioning in a criminal investigation are being approached in spite of the usual derailment efforts. Third, institutional loopholes that led to the debacle are being addressed. Fourth, all eyes will now be trained on the Legal proceedings and verdict. Going by judicial custody pronouncements so far, there seem to be ample evidence against each arrestee to be held for over 72 hours. So far, so good.
Arrests of politically connected persons in opposition is not new in a democracy. Recent arrests of a son of former Vice President of Nepal and Vice Chairman of the ruling Party unheard of. There’s a clear message of sparring no one and a sign that there’s inevitable political merger & acquisitions in the horizon before the upcoming 2084 B.S(Bikram Sambat) general elections.
Foreign nationals in custody for months, arrests in the border areas every week during elections and official visits by high level security personnel are signs that foreign agencies (Nepal’s Guardians) are actively aiding the investigation by connecting more nodes outside Nepal until sufficient to logically conclude. We believe there are multiple investigations in parallel by agencies working in tandem letting counterparts in Nepal know once foreign investigation culminates. Meanwhile, this allow Nepalese authorities ample time to gather incriminating evidences and prepare a tight knit case that stands a chance in the court. It’s saddening that some of our democratically elected officials holding top posts are mere transporting mules in this entire gold smuggling episode. But, that may not be the case going by their duration in custody. If a transfer is found for the Gold payment connected by financial institutions the arrestee control, they are in serious trouble and no power can save them from going to jail.
But, why Foreign Investigations? There were foreigners arrested subsequently pushing the criminal probe in their respective jurisdictions—Belgium, India & Tibet-China for now. Payments have to be made at the origin of Gold. So there’s likely an active investigation there. Now, if monetary transfer or asset exchanges are linked to the nodes in Nepal, it’s automatically money laundering and that by default brings in international probe. So, there’s more than what it looks on the surface and a lot more complicated than what we may think.
Politician-Business nexus is finally hit with a sledgehammer. There will be attempts at disowning, articles in media to save face and accusations hurled against each other to create a spectacle. Nothing wrong in a normal democracy. In fact, it’s a democracy sharpening tool. For us, the lines are crossed when there’s an attempt to derail investigations and from the looks of it, there was an initial attempt but recovery made even at the cost of power changing hands giving South Asia observers a picture of a politically unstable Nepal. This is how much weight the Gold investigation carries.
The smuggling episode is also a stark reminder to anyone who cares about Nepal on the procedural loopholes constantly exploited. It is usually at the approving officials node where vetting happens but instead does whatever is asked for few monetary gains. There’s a whole ecosystem nurtured and trained for sometime now. Takes serious effort to reverse this gradually.
We hope this incident, once brought to a logical conclusion, will be used as means to change government’s current workplace atmosphere; either through fear of repercussion or otherwise. The Legal proceedings is where all eyes will be set at. While the judges look at evidences presented for verdict, they have additional role as citizens to impact the state of affairs of this nation for wider good. And, we hope, they do so by leveraging the local law maxima for nation’s benefit.
Several arrests connected to gold smuggling seem to be happening in Lumbini, birth place of Lord Buddha 🕉️. Also, Chaudhary Group (CG) shareholder with strong presence in Lumbini was caught for a different reason in Kathmandu and there are talks of Binod Chaudhary to be brought in for questioning. Few weeks ago a Literary Festival that included visit by Nobel Laureates was cancelled and several politicians travelling to Lumbini all of a sudden. Can you tell us what is happening in Lumbini?
Nice to see our readers quick to jump with an astute comment:
The gold comes into Nepal and delivered outside. It's just in transit inside Nepal roads. So, payments are most likely made from somewhere else. Why should it matter to Nepal so much?