COUPLE KILLED IN SINDHUPALCHOWK Kathmandu, 30 Jan.: A grouo of thieves Tuesday killed Mam Kumari at Larka in Sidhupalchowk and snatched gold earrings They also killed her husband. Thirteen-year-old son escaped. Nnnn RULING ALIANCE SHOW OF FORCE IN CAPITAL Kathmandu, 30 Jan.: Twenty-one parties supporting a Maoist-led government of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and five Madeshbadi parties is coming out on the capital’s street Wednesday one day after an opposition rally that pressed the government’s resignation. Government has ignored and rejected opposition calls. The showdown between government and opposition is getting violent. Fourteen opposition activists were injured in clashes with government supporters in Banepa Tuesday. nnnn NB GROUP PROMOTER FACES ARREST Kathmandu, 30 Jan.: Key officials of the NB Group including managing director Laxmi Bahadur Shrestha face possible arrest on banking fraud charges as evidence against them has been mounting. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has recently submitted further details regarding the irregularities committed by them to the police, The Katahmandu Post reports.. Shrestha, who has been accused of banking fraud at Nepal Sri Lanka Merchant Bank (NSMB) and is wanted by the police, has managed to stay out of custody allegedly due to strong political protection. The police have already filed cases against him, his family members and relatives and former NSMB officials for banking offences. Shrestha has not been directly charged in the scam at NSMB. According to a central bank source, it has provided details about his misdeeds in other financial institutions. “We have sent a letter to the police mentioning the irregularities committed by Shrestha and his family members by taking loans through third parties such as their employees and other people,” said the central bank source. The source added that they had borrowed Rs 200 million to Rs 250 million, and the amount due would be double that if interest were to be added. “But he and his family members have failed to repay those loans,” added the source. The Bank and Financial Institution Act forbids promoters, bank directors and promoters with a share of more than 1 percent from taking loans from their own company. “The money taken as loans has been found to have been spent on buying shares, personal expenses and sharing with others,” said the NRB source. The source said the additional evidence would help the police to build a stronger case against Shrestha. He has been charged with banking offence after former NSMB directors in custody told the police that they had acted as per his instructions. The police have arrested former NSMB executive chairman Rubi Joshi and former directors Sri Ram Prasad Lamichhane and Gaurishankar Chaudhary. NSMB had provided loans worth Rs 353.1 million illegally as it was about to be merged with Nepal Bangladesh Bank (NBB) about two years ago. As a result, NBB suffer a huge financial burden after merging with a cash-strapped NSMB. The police launched a manhunt for Shrestha after the arrested bank officials named him as the key architect of the scam, but they have not been able to trace his whereabouts. The police have been under greater pressure to arrest Shrestha since the central bank’s letter reached the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB). “We have heard that Shrestha has been asking the government prosecutor to create an environment to repay the loans,” said an NRB official. Shrestha was charged years ago, however, no action has been taken against him due to protection from political circles and the NRB board despite his irregularities being an open secret. The board members of the central bank who have been protecting him have already left. “We have heard that he has been making noises that the central bank has been harassing him,” said the NRB source. The police have filed cases against Shrestha and his family members and relatives including Purna Bahadur Shrestha, Jen Shrestha, Gita Shrestha, Mukunda Acharya, Elija Vaidya and others based on the statements given by those who have been arrested on the charge of committing irregularities at NSMB. Nnnn BREAKTHROUGH AGREEMENT TO SELL STAR MALL Kathmandu, 30 Jan.: Nepal Share Market and Finance (NSMF) has signed an agreement with Global IME Bank and Siddhartha Bank, which has allowed NSMF to sell Star Mall. The finance company will use the money received from the sale of the business complex located in Putalisadak, Kathmandu, to pay the interest of the loans taken from the banks to develop the property, as per the agreement,. Prithvi Man Shrestha writes in The Kathmandu Post.. The crisis-ridden finance company plans to the recover around Rs 1.72 billion embezzled by its former executive chairman Yogendra Shrestha by selling the property, which is owned by a firm Shrestha has promoted. Likewise, the two banks are seeking to recover around Rs 350 million lent to Shrestha against the collateral value of Star Mall. As per the agreement, the finance company will sell the business complex within a year and will pay the outstanding interests by the time the property is sold. “The two sides signed the agreement under the coordination of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB),” said a senior central bank official. The NRB encouraged the two parties to go for such an agreement, fearing that the business complex could be sold at a cheaper price if the banks put the property up for auction, making it difficult to repay depositors’ money. The central bank has been barring the banks from auctioning the property for the last few months. Recently, NSMF had issued an auction notice to sell the mall, but found no buyers even after two deadline extensions. Although the central bank had estimated the value of the property at Rs 1.3 billion, the finance company had sought to sell it at around Rs 900 million considering the recession in the real estate market. An NSMF official said talks were underway with some interested parties. As the finance company has not been able to recover any significant amount from Shrestha, NSMF officials say a big chunk of the embezzled amount could be recovered if the mall is sold. Shrestha embezzled Rs 1.72 billion from the finance company by creating fake loanees, according to a due diligence audit (DDA) report. He created 96 bogus borrowers and took the money himself. NSMF has so far recovered Rs 150 million from Shrestha by selling his shares in Machhapuchchhre Bank. It has also been able to recover a substantial amount of loans issued to other loanees; as a result, its liabilities to the depositors have decreased considerably over the last year. When the fraud at NSMF was exposed on May 9, 2011, the company had deposits worth Rs 3.12 billion, which have now come down to less than Rs 1.5 billion. Its lending has also come down to Rs 1.37 billion from Rs 5.26 billion over the period. The finance company has also recovered Rs 375.5 million deposited in Star Savings and Credit Cooperative. Nnnn