FNCCI Under Scrutiny of CIAA Over Financial Fraud Allegations!

Amid the growing speculations on the corruption in the Agro Enterprise Center (AEC), the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has come forward to conduct a thorough investigation into the case.

There has been a growing allegation against AEC over the possible financial misappropriation.

So, the CIAA has notified the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the controlling body of AEC, to submit the invoices of the expenses made by the AEC and related documents.

Annually, the AEC receives around NPR 300 million from various government and donor agencies to run various projects in the country.

The Projects under AEC include:

• One Village One Product (OVOP) Program
• High Mountain Agri-business and Livelihood Improvement (HIMALI) Project
• Raising Income of Small and Medium Farmers Project
• Ginger Trade Competitiveness Project

The AEC has been charged with misappropriating a total of NPR 70 million in these projects. It was revealed that the AEC has been spending more than 60% on salaries and allowances of the concerned officials against the allocated budget.

The present FNCCI President Bhawani Rana has also been accused of her involvement in the scam.

The irregularities came into limelight after the then FNCCI Treasurer Gyanendra Lal Pradhan in January 2019 made public about the scams and corruption in AEC. Subsequently, Gyanendra was forced to relieve from his post.

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