Kathmandu. The newly appointed vice president of Lumbini Development Fund, Buddhist nun and singer Ani Choing Dolma, is surrounded by controversies related to citizenship and wealth laundering. After the cabinet meeting appointed Dolma as the vice-chairman of the fund on October 30, the old dispute of citizenship and wealth laundering came to the surface.
Dolma was accused of money laundering in 2075. His citizenship was questioned in 2076. The Money Laundering Investigation Department had also started an investigation against him. According to department sources, the investigation at that time has not been completed. “After starting the investigation, if nothing is found, it is kept in Tameli so that there is no need to investigate, if something is found, a case is filed,” said a senior official of the department, “but the investigation about him is not even in Tameli, the investigation is not even underway.”
The investigation on Dolma’s citizenship was also stopped shortly after the Kathmandu Police requested records from the District Administration Office, Kathmandu. According to the claim of an officer who worked in the Kathmandu Police at that time, there was an order not to proceed with the investigation from the higher level at that time. The government appointed him as the vice president of the fund without resolving both these issues.
After being appointed to the fund, the main question is how Dolma got citizenship on the basis of descent. Dolma took citizenship on the basis of descent on 18th May 2046 mentioning Kancha Bahadur Lama as her father. She took citizenship number 314 in the name of ‘Choing Dolma Muktan Lama’ and took out a copy again on 24 October 2066. But in December 2076, Pramansingh Lama, the son of Lama, who is said to be the father of Dolma’s citizenship, filed a formal complaint at the District Police Complex Kathmandu for investigation.
“I am surprised to hear that Kancha Bahadur Lama, who lives in Chapli Bhadrakali Ward No. 6, Kathmandu District, passed away in 2039, and that Pramansingh Lama (Magai), the son of Kancha Bahadur Lama, was granted citizenship in 2046 by Ani Choing Dolma in the name of Kancha Bahadur Lama,” the complaint states, “how and on what basis did he get citizenship, and I do not know anything about it.” And I inform you that I have no relationship with him.
Based on Pramansingh Lama’s application, the then Police Inspector of Kathmandu Police Complex, Yamlal Banjade, wrote a letter to the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, asking for a copy of the citizenship, saying that it should be understood in the course of the investigation. In the administration, the photocopy of the record register of the issuance of citizenship was sent on 13th December 2076, saying that ‘the photocopy of the citizenship certificate is not kept in the office’. But later this investigation did not proceed.
It is mentioned in Dolma’s autobiography, ‘Fool Anonma’, published in 2011, that her parents came from Tibet. In the book first written in French and later translated into Nepali, she said that she was born in a Buddhist village in the northeast of Kathmandu. It is said that this place ‘seems like a small world in Nepal for those who have been voted out’, and it is mentioned that the parents left Thatathal in the mid-1950s.
“That was when the Chinese communists who attacked Tibet started killing and imprisoning those who did not bow down to them,” the book says, “even though Baama came from the Kham region to the east, they were from a different village.” She said that her parents and relatives first went to India and the two met there.
Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi says that after Dolma said in her autobiography that her parents came from Tibet, how can she be granted citizenship on the basis of descent? He may have made a good contribution to the society, he may be good at singing. But that is not the basis for appointment to a public position,” he said, ‘after writing in his autobiography that his parents came from Tibet, if the case starts tomorrow, it will be accepted by the court as a major evidence.’
Tripathi says that after so many questions have been raised, the government should also answer the questions. He says that he cannot be appointed to a public position without resolving the issues raised outside. “Citizenship on the basis of descent means that the parents had to continue in Nepal for several generations,” he said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dilip Ghimire, head of Kathmandu Police Complex, Bhadrakali, said that no complaint has been received regarding Dolma. “So far no complaint has been found,” he told Kantipur. Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, Ishwarraj Paudel, also said that there should be no investigation on the issue of citizenship based on what is reported in the media. He said, “We should not do research based on what is reported in the media. We have not entered into that matter now.
The question of asset laundering was raised on 25 Baisakh 2075 when the source of the amount received in the account number 001…39424 of the then Mega Bank Limited was not disclosed. Hong Kong citizens deposited 579 thousand 980 US dollars in Dolma’s account on 26 Baisakh 2075. The next day, he collected 539,980 US dollars. The next day, 529,980 dollars were collected.
After the source of the amount collected for three consecutive days was not revealed, the Financial Information Unit of the National Bank sent the details to the Money Laundering Investigation Department in July of the same year. After that, the department froze Dolma’s account and started an investigation. The investigation was started when 1.6 million 49 thousand 940 US dollars came into his account from Hong Kong and it was found to be suspicious.
According to the exchange rate of the time, they brought in about 20 million rupees without informing any agency about the need to get permission to bring in money from abroad, and they tried to bring in more than 180 million rupees. Jeevanprakash Sitaula was the director general of the department at that time. The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had pressured him not to investigate and to release the account. But when Sitaula refused, he was transferred to Koshi province,” said an officer involved in the investigation at that time.
According to that official, after the transfer of Sitaula, Rupnarayan Bhattarai came as Director General. “Rashtra Bank asked on 27th December 2016 what further investigation is being done on him,” he said, “The department wrote a letter on 8th January 2016 saying that the investigation has not been completed, only after the investigation is completed, concrete things can be said.” But after misinterpreting that letter, the National Bank closed Ani’s account. This is a matter that needs to be investigated even now. The department has not decided anything about whether or not to investigate it.
The Money Laundering Investigation Department under the Ministry of Finance was taken under the Prime Minister’s Office by KP Sharma Oli after becoming the Prime Minister. In July 2075, three months after the funds were stopped, Dolma contributed one crore rupees for the Tuin displacement program announced by the then Prime Minister Oli. She announced her support by appearing in the ‘Janata Sen Pradhanmantri’ program aired on Nepal Television.
Dolma did not want to answer questions about citizenship. In a video message published on social media, she has said that they are trying to defame her by making unnecessary accusations like citizenship and wealth laundering. They are trying to make me look like a criminal. I am clear, there is no mistake in my heart, I am clear that I have not committed any betrayal towards the country,” she said in the 12 minutes and 22 seconds long video.
If you want to know about money laundering, you can go to the Money Laundering Investigation Department and you can understand whether a case has been filed or not, he said. She said that this can be understood even by going to the National Bank.
Dolma said that she had earned a lot of fame until she was 55 years old and said that she could easily become a citizen of any country she wanted to go to. I will say, I will serve this country. I live in this country and do sadhana. I am lucky to have been born in the holy land where Buddha was born,’ she added.
Dolma says that although it is possible to have disagreements in a democracy, its limits should be taken care of. She has also given an expression of the intention of the demonstration against her in the temptation of ‘Masubhat’. Dolma’s statement is being criticized on social media.
The Lumbini Bachau Mahabhiyan has been protesting since October 31, demanding the cancellation of the appointment. As soon as the office bearer in the fund became vacant, the campaign began to pressurize that priority should be given to local people in new appointments. According to Akram Khan, the coordinator of the grand campaign, the demand was made to make the appointment process transparent and to give priority to the locals even after meeting with the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Khadakraj Paudel.
Police arrested Rati Khan and Baniuddin Muslim on the charge of burning the effigy of Minister Paudel at Parsa Chowk in Lumbini on Monday. They were released on Tuesday afternoon. Khan says that he had to protest when officials were appointed ignoring their demands. Khan said that there should be a fair investigation into the questions raised about Dolma’s citizenship and the source of funds from abroad. From Ekantipur