Kathmandu. Surkhet: More than Rs 2.5 million has been embezzled from the insurance board and the hospital in connivance with the employees engaged in collecting the fees of the health insurance program at Karnali State Hospital Surkhet.
During the investigation conducted by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), it has been confirmed that the employees deputed by the Health Insurance Board embezzled the amount without depositing the amount in the board’s account.
The Commission on Monday filed a case against four persons, including Trupti Shahi, an employee of The State Hospital, Surkhet, at the Special Court on charges of embezzling funds.
According to CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Poudel, the CIAA has filed a case against Shahi, accounts officer Shankar Prasad Subedi and the then chief of the extension counter of Kumari Bank Goma Sinjali Magar for not paying Rs 2,567,526.50 as health insurance.
Trupti Shahi was working as a registration assistant in the social service unit program of the hospital from the same organization as the contract agreement was signed with Sundar Karnali Organization for insurance. Gomasinjali Magar, who works at kumari bank’s extension counter, has been issuing a voucher to deposit money using the username and password used by Shahi for registration in
the hospital.
Shahi had been issuing a bill with a revenue of Rs 5 while registering the name of the insured through dolphin software and collecting money on the basis of the bill and Magar had been issuing vouchers by matching the dolphin software. Subedi, an officer at the accounts section, has been conducting accounts on a daily basis by looking at the dolphin software, according to the CIAA.
This fact came to light during the investigation in connection with the complaint that Shahi used to enter the billing counter unauthorisedly and did the billing and embezzled the money received from the billing without depositing it in the bank. According to the CIAA, the defendants did not deposit only Rs 836,360 out of the revenue amount of Rs 3,403,856.50 collected during the period from Shrawan 1, 2080 to July 1, 2081.
According to CIAA spokesperson Poudel, the defendants have misappropriated the property of The State Hospital Surkhet. In view of the corruption committed by the four in connivance, the CIAA has demanded a fine and punishment for the crime.
