Sandeep Sen Published: 10:30 am Jan 10, 2021
New brand logo of Ncell - an Axiata company.
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 9
A handful of Nepali investors have made fortunes buying and selling Ncell shares using funds which appear to have flowed covertly to them via tax havens from the Malaysian telecom giant, Axiata, and Sweden’s Telia.
Some transactions by Nepali investors appear to challenge Nepal’s laws on foreign exchange controls, taxation, and foreign ownership.
An investigation by the Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal and Finance Uncovered, a British journalism organisation, has found that the primary Nepali beneficiaries from these deals appear to be leading businessman Upendra Mahato, his associate Niraj Govinda Shrestha, and businesswoman Bhavana Singh Shrestha, along with her company Sunivera Capital Venture.