The preliminary hearing of the main accused, Rinchen Wangdi, involved in Paro RICBL embezzlement case was held at Paro District Court yesterday.
During the hearing, he partially accepted the allegations charged by ACC against him. He was alleged of misusing Nu 140 m, forgery, participation in offences and tempering with documents.
Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said as per the Anti-Corruption Act 2011, the offences are value based sentencing, exceeding the total amount of minimum wage at the time of crime for a period of 35 years, considering the crime as second degree felony. Including the main accused, there are 22 individuals charged in the embezzlement case.
They also face charges of embezzlement, forgery, participation in an offence, tampering with documents, abuse of functions and official misconduct. Of the 22 accused, three are staff of RICBL Paro branch office, 16 are employees of Paro Bhutan National Bank and three are businessmen.
According to the OAG, the alleged crime was committed between 2012 to mid 2015. It took the OAG close to a year and a half to review the case. Six attorneys are prosecuting the case.
