Businessman arrested in Nepal on charges of fraud involving millions of rupees

Kathmandu, Mar 1 (PTI) Nepal's Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Wednesday said it has registered a case against businessman Prithvi Bahadur Shah and his aides in connection with organised crimes, including cooperatives frauds and forgery involving millions of rupees.

"The people belonging to Shah's group had established more than 24 companies and defrauded people in the pretext of anti-virus update, and clearance of Amazon bills. They were defrauding people via email," said CIB, which is run under Nepal Police.

The gang closely monitored the phone and sought remote access to their phones. It further enabled them to send the people fake bank statements on their digital devices, showing deposits and later withdrawing the real savings from people, it said.

The gang had targeted mainly cancer patients and senior citizens, it added.

Prithvi Shah had collected Nepalese Rs 388.6 million from such crimes and invested in purchase of land, house, shares, and gold while the foreigners were asked to deposit money in Shah's various accounts via SWIFT code, Superintendent of Police Sanjay Singh Thapa said.

Seven persons including Prithvi Shah and Bijay Bikram Shah have been detained by the police. Thirteen others involved in the crime have been absconding. PTI SBP ZH ZH