E-Kantipur

KTAHMANDU, DEC 31 -

Three banks that have lent to Krishi Premura Properties, whose promoter Rakesh Adukiya has been charged with banking fraud, have asked the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to lift the ban on the sale of the company’s property after it committed to clear the liabilities.

Under a loose consortium, the company had borrowed Rs 270 million (Rs 90 million each) from Sunrise Bank, Bank of Asia Nepal (BoA) and Prime Commercial Bank to build JSB Financial Tower, a business complex, in Kamaladi, Kathmandu.

After Adukiya’s alleged involvement in the embezzlement of funds at Gurkha Development Bank, the central bank has frozen property registered in his and his firms’ names. As per the law, the central bank can allow borrowers to sell collateral to repay loans.

The banks had been planning to auction the company’s land at Kamaladi that was put up as collateral. But they decided to request NRB to lift the property sale ban after Krishi Premura requested them to halt the auction process, saying that it has signed an agreement with a company based in Belize, South America, for the sale of the property.

“Krishi Premura came up with the documents of the agreement which stated that the foreign company will set up a firm here and purchase the property,” said Surendra Man Pradhan, chief executive officer of Sunrise Bank. As per the documents, the foreign company has agreed to purchase the property for $10 million. It seeks to take ahead the commercial complex construction project ahead.

However, this is not the first time that the company committed to repay the loans. Earlier, citing technical problems in selling the plot, the company had written to Sunrise Bank on October 31, stating that it would repay the outstanding interest within three weeks even if it failed to dispose the property. According to Sunrise, the company has regularly been paying interest. The company, however, is yet to clear its outstanding interest for the first quarter to Prime.

Following the deal, the banks are optimistic about the loan recovery. “We are hopeful that our loans will be recovered and we have asked the central bank to lift the property sale ban,” said Prime General Manager Sanjeev Manandhar. “We will move ahead as per the central bank’s direction.”

The central bank is currently studying the deal to ascertain its authenticity. “We can open the door for selling collateral as long as the borrower is paying interest,” said a senior NRB official.

NRB officials, however, are not sure whether laws allow a foreign company to invest here in real estate.

Posted on: 2011-12-31 09:50

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