Kathmandu: The Department of Money Laundering Investigation has launched a detailed digital forensic probe into stock purchase orders linked to businessman Dipak Bhatta after he claimed he did not operate his own trading account.
During questioning, Bhatta told investigators that he neither handled his TMS (Trading Management System) account nor had any knowledge of the share transactions carried out in his name, prompting authorities to trace the origin of those trades.
According to sources, investigators are now tracking the IP addresses of the computers used to place the stock purchase orders. Preliminary findings indicate that the TMS account was operated from areas around Gairidhara in Kathmandu. Officials have intensified efforts to identify the exact devices and networks involved.
The investigation revealed that Bhatta had purchased around 1.9 million shares through broker number 55, Bhrikuti Stock Broker. However, Bhatt has insisted that the transactions were executed by someone else using his account, alleging he is being framed.
Based on his statement, authorities have begun a technical investigation to determine where and how his TMS account was accessed. Evidence so far shows that the account was logged in from multiple locations across the capital. In some cases, multiple TMS IDs were accessed from the same IP address, while a single account was also used from different IPs and devices, suggesting complex and possibly coordinated activity.
Despite his claims, investigators say Bhatt was receiving real-time notifications of every transaction. His personal mobile number and email address were registered in the KYC details of the TMS account opened with Bhrikuti Stock Broker, meaning he would have been alerted to each buy order. This contradiction has made the case more complicated.
Bhatt has been arrested as part of the ongoing money laundering investigation, and the Kathmandu District Court has granted permission to keep him in custody for an additional 10 days for further inquiry. He was initially detained last Thursday afternoon in Kathmandu by Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau and has since been held under the department’s custody.
While the department had requested a 30-day remand, the court approved only 10 days for now. Investigators are probing Bhatt under provisions of Nepal’s Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2008 (2064 BS), specifically for alleged violations outlined in Section 3(1), as the digital evidence trail becomes central to the case.
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