The former Executive Director (ED) of the Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICBL) was slapped with three more charges by the corporation’s Board at the evidence hearing yesterday.
The allegations are based on the Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) investigation report.
It says the ED had bought shares of Neethsel Private Limited, a pharmaceutical company in Phuentshogling, at an unauthorised rate.
The RICBL had agreed to buy the shares provided it is priced Nu 100 per share, but the ED is said to made the purchase by paying Nu 118 per share.
He is also accused of not having informed the Asset Liability Committee of the RICBL about the purchase of the shares.
The ED refuted the allegations and said the purchase was even reflected in the RICBL’s annual report. He added the board too was well aware of the purchase.
The other charge concerns use of government vehicle for travel to Sikkim by the former ED. The RICBL’s lawyer said the accused had used the government vehicle by replacing the vehicle registration number with a private one.
To this, the former ED admitted to using government vehicle on several occasions but with prior permission only. He asked why he would change the registration number when he was authorised to use the vehicle in the first place.
The former ED was also accused of illegally working for a consultancy firm while he was still an employee of the RICBL.
The accused dismissed this allegation as baseless and argued that he is just a shareholder of the consultancy firm and that this is the only relationship he has with the firm in question.
The former ED says he was not aware of the three new allegations until it was revealed yesterday at the evidence hearing.
The Thimphu District Court, where the case is being heard, will pass the judgment in the next hearing.
