Suspect Remains at Large in Citizens Bank's 49.1 Million Rupee Embezzlement Case

Biratnagar. Three weeks have passed since the embezzlement of nearly 50 million rupees at the Kanchanbari branch of Citizens Bank International in Biratnagar-3 was exposed. However, police have yet to apprehend the primary suspect, employee Rozi Kandel.

While stakeholders are criticizing the police for their lack of urgency in arresting the main accused in this serious financial crime, the Kandel family has initiated a new tactic to divert attention from the core incident.

With his daughter on the run, her father, 61-year-old Rajan Chhetri Kandel, filed a complaint with the Morang District Police Office on Friday against five individuals, alleging extortion and death threats related to 'unfair transactions' (meter-interest loans). The family claims this is an attempt to frame them, while the accused individuals maintain it is a personal financial dispute being politicized to distract from the bank fraud.

Internal bank audits revealed that 49.15 million rupees were embezzled by creating 13 fake loan accounts with the collusion of staff.

The bank filed a formal complaint against Rozi Kandel for banking offenses on Chaitra 28. Although the High Court in Biratnagar has issued an arrest warrant, police have yet to execute it. Morang Police Chief, Superintendent of Police Kavit Katwal, stated that investigations are ongoing and they believe the main suspect is still in Nepal.

According to the bank's 250-page investigation report, the user IDs of former operations in-charge Rozi Kandel, branch manager Abhishek Agrawal, assistant branch manager Joseph Acharya, and Sonika Raut were used to facilitate the fraud. The bank has since terminated Kandel and suspended the others involved.

'Once the main suspect is arrested, further investigations will proceed based on her statement,' said SP Katwal. 'We have information that the main suspect is in Nepal and will be arrested soon.'

The Kandel family has also filed a writ petition at the High Court in Biratnagar against the bank's CEO and the police, claiming that the bank violated an agreement to settle the matter internally after securing land collateral worth 60 million rupees.