Nepal’s anti-corruption agency is moving forward with one of the biggest corruption cases in the country’s aviation history, targeting 55 people and a Chinese construction company for alleged misuse of money during the building of the Pokhara International Airport. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is asking the court to recover USD 62.8 million (NPR 8.36 billion) from each accused person.
The case names five former ministers, 10 former secretaries, senior officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), and China CAMC Engineering, the company that built the airport with a loan from China Exim Bank. Those accused include former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat, former tourism ministers Bhim Acharya, Ram Kumar Shrestha, Deepak Amatya, and the late Post Bahadur Bogati, whose wife has been listed for compensation. CAAN’s current director general Pradeep Adhikari and former director Murari Bhandari, who are already facing charges in another corruption case, are also included.