LIGHTNING KILLS TWO IN BIRATNAGAR Kathmandu, 11 July : Lightning killed two persons in Biratnagar Wednesday morning. One person was killed while walking on a stret. A farmer tilling his field was also killed with a pair of bullocks. Nnnn ACCOUNTS OF GENERAL FINANCE TOP OFFICIALS FROZEN Kathmandu, 11 July: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken up the case of issuance of fake ´good for payment´ check by the General Finance Company (GFC) and frozen the bank accounts and lockers of its chairman, board of directors and chief executive in order to launch investigations against them, Republica reports. The case of wrongdoing by the finance company had surfaced when the police on Saturday arrested Raju Kumar Pradhan, its general manager, after its clients found the good for payment check that the company issued of being fake. “This is a grave fraudulent act. Revelation of this wrongdoing has made us suspicious of possibility of other anomalies in the company,” said a senior NRB official. Given such situation, which also raises question over the safety of the public deposits that stand close to Rs 1 billion, NRB have decided to launch a probe against its chairman, board of directors, promoters and chief executives. “Their bank accounts and lockers have been frozen. We have already issued a circular to this connection to all banks and financial institutions,” the official told Republica. Officials whose bank accounts and lockers have been frozen include GFC Chairman Upendra Narayan Shrestha, CEO Prakash Kumar Dhungana, and board of directors Kapur Prasad Vaidya Bainju, Siddhi Das Sayami, Kishore Maharjan, Ramesh Lal Shrestha, Umesh Shrestha, Bipan Timla, Krishna Prasad Shrestha and Mahendra Prasad Shrestha. “The bank accounts of the arrested GFC General Manager Pradhan too have been frozen,” said the source. Apart from them, the central bank has also frozen bank accounts of the firms and individuals that have been supplying goods and services, or have any other transactions with the finance company. Under this, the NRB has frozen bank accounts of Sachin Kumar Sunuwar, promoter of Saharin Varieties Suppliers located in Sukedhara, and Bikas Paudel, promoter of Global Multi-purpose International. GFC has been operating with head office at Chabahil and a branch office in New Road. The revelation of the arrest of the CEO had incited hundreds of depositors of the finance company to queue for withdrawals on Sunday and Monday. However, the queue had shortened on Tuesday after the company published a public notice, warranting its good health to the depositors. GFC had started services in 1995 and has been operating with paid-up capital of Rs 96.9 million. It has Rs 8.5 million in the reserve fund. Its total deposits stand at Rs 857.7 million and loans and investments at Rs 885 million. Even though the company distributed bonus share at the rate of 37 percent, GFC´s un-audited financial statement shows the company was incurring loss of Rs 11.4 million as of the first nine months of the current fiscal year. nnnn GLOBAL INTERNET SERVICE PVT ;TD FINED RS.374.4M Kathmandu, 11 July: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) today slapped Rs 374.4 million fine on Global Internet Service Pvt Ltd for its illegal involvement in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) scam, The Himalayan Times reports. The regulator also revoked its licence, NTA spokesperson Kailash Prasad Neupane informed. “Of the total fine, Rs 187.2 is the actual loss caused by the internet service provider through illicit VoIP,” he said, adding that the remaining Rs 187.2 is the fine equal to the actual fraud. The authority also decided to seize all Global Internet equipment as part of the action, Neupane said. According to him, a 35-day ultimatum will be give to the Global Internet to furnish justification against the decision. “The authority will ask the concerned government agencies to collect the fine after 35 days,” he said. Telecom service providers have also claimed their loss amount from illegal VoIP by Global Internet, he said. However, the authority did not take any decision due to lack of evidence. Earlier, the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) in February had sought a penalty of Rs 2.59 billion against responsible officials and owner of Global Internet. The penalty amount includes Rs 865 million loss caused to the government and double amount of fine (Rs 1.73 billion) under the Revenue Leakage Investigation and Penalty Act, according to DRI. Bhola Kishore Dangol, believed to be the kingpin of illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operation, was arrested in India in April. He was arrested by Darjeeling Police in Mirik, West Bengal for illegally installing transmitters and wireless equipment. nnnn