Man who put ex-finance minister and governor on a collision course arrested for fraud

Prithvi Bahadur Shah, the central character in a row between former finance minister Janardan Sharma and Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari early last year, was arrested along with five other associates on the charge of committing a number of frauds.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police said in a statement that six people including Shah were arrested on Friday as they were found to have duped foreign nationals of millions of dollars through unauthorised entry into their computer systems.

“They have been taken in the CIB’s custody for further investigation after taking remand from Kathmandu District Court on Friday,” the CIB said. Other arrested include Bijya Bikram Shah, Chakra Bahadur Khatri, Anup Khadka, Rukmangat Kafle and Rang Bahadur Saud.

According to the CIB, they received $4.64 million, 12,825 pound sterling, and Rs32.22 million, which converts into Rs649.5 million, through the swift system after the foreigners were duped through fraudulent activities.

“For example, this group lured Julia Hodages Rickeet, a US national, to click on an anti-virus software which enabled the group to hack the bank account of Rickeet,” said Superintendent of Police Kamal Thapa. “After the complaint was registered with the US police, the money was found to have arrived in Nepal and we also conducted an investigation on the matter.”

The group also received money from other foreign nationals by conducting many wire scams.

“Certain amount…