Kathmandu: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police has recommended filing criminal charges against 40 individuals, including prominent business tycoons, in connection with a multi-billion rupee embezzlement scandal involving Himalayan Re-Insurance and several other insurance companies.
Following a comprehensive probe, the CIB submitted its investigation report to the District Government Attorney’s Office, seeking the prosecution of high-profile figures such as Sulav Agrawal, Deepak Bhatt, and Shekhar Golchha.
The investigation has uncovered a sophisticated network of financial irregularities and organized economic crime within Nepal’s insurance sector. According to the CIB, top officials from Himalayan Re-Insurance Limited, Nepal Micro Insurance, and Himalayan Life Insurance deliberately bypassed regulatory authorities and misused billions of rupees in public investor funds for personal gain. These findings are based on a combined effort involving emergency field inspections by the Nepal Insurance Authority and data provided by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation.
Himalayan Re-Insurance and its sister concerns reportedly committed flagrant violations of the “Investment Directives, 2025” (2082 BS) issued by the Nepal Insurance Authority. While regulations strictly cap a re-insurance company’s total investment in the securities market at 15 percent, and limit ownership in any single company to 15 percent of its paid-up capital, these firms exceeded those boundaries without seeking the mandatory prior approval from the regulator.
A significant portion of the financial malpractice was facilitated through “setting” arrangements with Bhrikuti Stock Broking Company (Broker No. 55). The CIB report highlights that Himalayan Re-Insurance alone has an outstanding balance of NPR 2.73 billion due from the broker. Despite this massive exposure, the company continued to funnel hundreds of millions of additional rupees to the broker under the guise of “advances.” Investigators noted a clear “malicious intent” in these transactions, viewing them as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to siphon off insurance funds rather than legitimate business activity.
Further evidence suggests that the group operated out of private corporate offices to conduct insider trading and manipulate market prices. The CIB alleges that Deepak Bhatt and Sulav Agrawal formed a criminal syndicate to manipulate the share prices of Nepal Re-Insurance and other entities. This group reportedly used capital from Himalayan Re-Insurance, Nepal Micro Insurance, and subsidiaries like Himalaya Capserve, Himalayan Securities, and the HLI Large Cap Fund to engage in insider trading in companies such as Guardian Micro Life and NLG Insurance.
The investigation reveals a total collapse of institutional governance, as critical decisions regarding share trading and settlements were not made by the respective boards or management teams. Instead, these operations were allegedly run from the private offices of Saurya Cement and Jagdamba Steel. These companies are owned by the defendants. The CIB concluded that the executive heads and board members of the involved insurance firms prioritized the personal interests of Bhatt and Agrawal over the welfare of the institutions and their policyholders.
Specifically, the CIB found that the group influenced the share prices of several companies to secure illicit personal profits. By utilizing the collective investment funds of the insurance companies they controlled, the defendants successfully conducted insider trading, a claim the CIB asserts is backed by transactional evidence. Consequently, the bureau has recommended charges against 40 individuals, including former Himalayan Re Chairman Shekhar Golchha, Himalayan Life Chairman Sulav Agrawal, shareholder Deepak Bhatt, and CEO Upasana Poudel, among others. They face prosecution under the Insurance Act, 2022, for embezzlement, misappropriation, and financial misuse.
The selection of the brokerage firm itself was marred by a lack of transparency. Although the board had approved multiple brokers for trading, the vast majority of transactions were funnelled through Bhrikuti Stock Broking. Notably, one of the primary shareholders of this brokerage is the wife of the former CEO of Himalayan Life Insurance, creating a direct conflict of interest. The CIB report also criticized the practice of the investment committee issuing large advances, which were only later “rubber-stamped” by the board, a clear violation of corporate governance standards.
As of early 2025, the financial risk remains staggering, with billions of rupees still outstanding from the brokerage firm. The fact that the insurance companies took no legal action to recover these funds further proves the complicity of the officials. While the legal limit for investment in listed companies was capped at 10-15 percent, Himalayan Re-Insurance pushed its exposure to over 25% in the last fiscal year. This continued flow of money to the broker, even after breaching legal limits, confirms a systematic plan for economic exploitation.
The CIB also pointed out that the acquisition of shares in companies like Guardian Micro Life and Nepal Micro Insurance was done without the required regulatory consent from the Insurance Authority. The overlap of major shareholders across these entities created a fertile ground for insider trading. The final report concludes that the autonomy of these financial institutions was hijacked by Golchha, Agrawal, and Bhatt to serve their private business interests, ultimately jeopardizing the funds of policyholders and public shareholders.
Regarding the specific misuse of funds, Bhrikuti Stock Broking allegedly used the “advance payments” received from the insurance companies to settle the private share purchases of individual defendants. Instead of clearing the insurance companies’ trades, NPR 3.73 billion was diverted to settle the personal accounts of Deepak Bhatt, Raj Bahadur Shah, Subhi Agrawal, and Rishi Raj More. The CIB has quantified the illicit benefits gained by these individuals, with Deepak Bhatt alone benefiting from nearly NPR 2.89 billion of insurance capital.
In its final recommendation, the CIB has called for the seizure of the embezzled amounts and the imposition of prison sentences for the defendants. For the core group at Himalayan Re-Insurance, the bureau is seeking the recovery of Rs 2.73 billion. Similar claims have been made against the leadership of Nepal Micro Insurance and various subsidiaries for misappropriating hundreds of millions more.
Sandeep Chachan, the executive director of Bhrikuti Stock Broking, is also facing heavy penalties for his role in the nearly Rs 4 billion fraud. The CIB has labelled Sulav Agrawal as the primary mastermind of the scheme, recommending a total claim of Rs 3.73 billion against him for his role in organized financial crime and market manipulation.
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