The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Opposition Party and the Prime Minister on 10th September 2025 in separate letters asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to look into various allegations on the Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP) floating on the social media.
The Opposition Party also put up its letter to the ACC along with attachments which are screen shots of the allegations shared by an anonymous Facebook account called ‘Karmic’ that mentions the Health Minister Tandin Wangchuk, his son Sangay Yoezer Wangchuk and alleged business partner Norbu Dhendup, the Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay’s brother Tshering Wangchuk and a construction company T&K Pvt Ltd in the context of ESP loans.
The Opposition said that while the origin of the post is anonymous the specificity of the claims and the weight of public concern warrant close scrutiny by the ACC.
The PM in his letter on the same day says there are allegations circulating on social media concerning the misuse of ESP by the Health Minister and himself and if such matters are left unchecked it has the potential to not only erode public trust but also impact the credibility of the nation internationally.
He asked the ACC to do a thorough review and establish whether alleged misuse and corruption took place and if there is any wrongdoing then to penalize and prosecute to the full extent of the law. The PM said if the allegations are unfounded then the ACC should identify and hold accountable those responsible for spreading misinformation.
The Bhutanese interviewed all those named in the allegations, the Opposition Party members and the Bhutan Development Bank Limited management on the anonymous allegations.
Health Minister, son and business partner
The Health Minister denied to have anything to do with any ESP loans or his son’s businesses and he questioned how the Opposition party could put up his picture in their Facebook post saying this shows ignorance of the law by the law makers themselves.
He said the allegation has disturbed his family members and once the ACC investigation is over, he will be consulting a lawyer to take legal action.
The anonymous post shared by ‘Karmic’ says that Lyonpo Tandin in the name of his son (Sangay Yoezer Wangchuk) partnered with Norbu Dhendup (brother of PDP candidate Phuntsho Dhendup of Trongsa) and took a Nu 98 million ESP loan for M/s Farm Feed for a project in Tsirang that was already established by abusing power.
The reporter checked with the BDBL which said no such loan was given.
Norbu Dhendup said that he does not own any company called M/s Farm Feed but he does own a feed company called Druko in Tsirang which had availed a Nu 45 mn commercial loan from T-Bank in 2022.
He said he later tried for the Reinvigoration Fund (RGF) loan under ESP with T-Bank but it was rejected.
Karmic’s shared post then says that Lyonpo in the name of his son partnering with Norbu Dhendup got a 90 mn loan for an already established Polythene Pipe Factory in Jemina, Thimphu.
The Bhutanese found there was a company named Norwang Polyfab Private Limited in Jemina that has two units with two separate licenses under it. The company is owned 50% by Lyonpo’s son Sangay and 50% by Norbu’s mother Lhamo.
The first unit is a High Density Polyethene (HDP) pipe factory that is in the advanced stages and will manufacture commercially from 1st October 2025. The factory will manufacture irrigation and drinking water pipes from 20 mm to 800 mm and water tanks.
Norbu who is the CEO of the company said the company for its HDP unit secured a Nu 104 mn commercial loan from T-Bank in 2024.
The collateral for the loan is provided by Lyonpo and his wife for his son and Norbu’s mother provided her own collateral.
BDBL confirmed that there is no ESP loan given to this HDP unit.
Norbu said that when the ESP was announced he saw an opportunity to expand the factory by creating a new unit for Low Density Polythene (LDP) pipe that will manufacture the white colour sewage line pipes visible at the side of buildings and also the white pipes that feed water from tanks in the attic to the apartments below. It will make CPVC, PVC and fittings.
He said for this they first did a market study of 200 to 300 hardware stores in Bhutan and found no one in Bhutan making such LDP pipes and so there was a market.
He said they originally wanted to put the ESP loan to T-Bank which was familiar with their project but there was an announcement that all ESP loans are shifted to BDBL.
They initially got a Nu 83.7 mn ESP loan from BDBL for this which was later cut by Nu 11 mn to Nu 72.7 mn as BDBL did not authorize reprioritizing some part of the loan to new unforeseen activities in the unit like the need for a lab to test the equipment for BSB standard and a new storage unit.
When asked what was the difference between the HDP and the LDP units the CEO said that both need different raw materials, machines and produce different products and one cannot make the other.
The CEO said they followed all due process for the LDP unit like public clearance, power connection, Gewog water tapping clearance, forest clearance, road making clearance, architectural drawing approval, building approval, environmental clearance and project approval from MoICE.
He said for the ESP loan they filled the form and since it was first come first serve, they waited their turn while the BDBL checked for NPL etc and they got a chance to make their project pitch after three months.
Dhendup said they never disturbed Lyonpo for the loan. The loan was also not given at once and there were two stages with site visits and inspections.
The BDBL confirmed that it had given a certain ESP loan to the LDP unit of Norwang Polyfab Private Limited as claimed by Norbu.
The anonymous post then claims Nu 188 mn of the ESP total loans were diverted to purchase a building in Thimphu.
The Nu 188 mn figure is incorrect as there are no such records with BDBL and Norwang got only Nu 72 mn.
The Bhutanese asked Norbu about a building being purchased as per the anonymous allegation.
Here Norbu said that a relative of his wants to be involved in the HDP and LDP units and wants a 20% share in each of the businesses coming to a total of 40%.
He said since his relative does not have cash he injected his 5 storeys building in Babesa as his equity or capital contribution in return for Sangay and Lhamo handing over parts of their shares in the companies to him.
He said the HDP unit will be worth Nu 200 mn once completed and the LDP will be worth around Nu 95 to Nu 96 mn and once an audit and valuation is done then the shares will be issued to his relative. The building is not yet transferred but Norbu said paper work has been done to transfer the building to Sangay and Lhamo at 50% ownership each in return for shares in the companies to his relative.
When the paper asked if any ESP money had been used to buy the building Norbu said there was no banking or cash payment and it is in lieu of shares. He said in terms of the LDP ESP loan they have all the bills, machines, bank transactions and site works to show the amount spent.
He said the BDBL bank was informed verbally of an impending change in shareholding once the projects are complete.
Norbu said that once the ACC investigation is over, he plans to take legal action against the Opposition party for defamation over their post carrying false allegations against him.
PM’s brother
When it comes to the PM’s brother Tshering Wangchuk the anonymous post shared by Karma says, he was ‘Sanctioned Nu 50 mn ESP loan in the name of his associate for a bricks manufacturing (factory) alleged to be a fake project.’
Here Tshering said that the ESP loan is not 50 mn but 81 mn for a concrete bricks factory located near the NRDCL sand depot in Punakha.
He said he applied for the loan following all due process and diligence and his brother the Prime Minister is not even aware he took an ESP loan. So far Nu 35 mn has been released in the first phase. With this money he said he has done site development, paid Nu 2.5 mn for a transformer near his site, brought water to his site, built some posts at the site, sent Nu 5 mn for advance payments and paid his two former partners who has sent money to China for the machines but later backed out of the business.
He said he is waiting for the second installment which will be sent to 7 suppliers in China and ultimately, they will send ready made units that only need to be installed here.
He said he and his two partners started a business in 2022 and initially there were in multiple areas like hardware, electrical parts, geysers, tubs etc but they and particularly he started getting into Autoclaved Aerated Concrete blocks and so sent some advance payments to China for the machines and set up. He said his two partners backed out and so he had to refund their advance money and do the business on his own. The machines are boilers, generators, the main manufacturing units and other electrical parts and in addition to that the office will also be set up. He said the machines will be here by the end of October or early November.
He said he has all the bills, payments and works to show where the money has been spent so far. He said he plans to sue the Opposition party once ACC is done as the allegations have traumatized his whole family.
BDBL confirmed that they did give an ESP loan to this business as claimed by the owner.
T and K Pvt Ltd
The anonymous post shared by Karmic says a Nu 60 mn ESP loan was sanctioned (by BDBL) to T & K Pvt Ltd for a bricks project in Phuentsholing and that the company funded PDP during the elections.
Here there is no record of any ESP loan given by BDBL to this company.
The ESP loan was in fact given by Bhutan Insurance Limited (BIL) when other banks could still give ESP loans. BIL will be accountable for the loan given.
The owner of the company Thinlay Gyamtsho, who is also the former President of the Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB) is one of the biggest contractors in Bhutan with interests in mining as well.
Thinlay said he would welcome a live BBS debate with the Opposition party and with the ACC present too on how his loan violated any rules or processes.
He said he has built a very prominent company of 160 employees by working very hard and clean over the years.
He said he also operates a stone chips business at the banks of Amochu too and he has a large deposit of 10 mm stone chips and dust. He said he wanted to come up with a business that could utilize this raw material and then export the finished product to India and also supply it within the country at a reasonable price.
The business is to manufacture concrete block, hollow block, concrete pre cast, RCC, culvert blocks etc.
He said his factory will be highly mechanized which will bring down costs. He said it will be the only factory in the whole North-East India, Assam and West Bengal which will do steam curing instead of water curing. He said his blocks will be ready in 24 hours instead of others who will need 2 weeks to 10 days to do water curing. He said their main target is the export market in India but there will be supply in the domestic market too.
He said his proposal was actually prepared for a commercial bank but once the ESP scheme came along, he took the opportunity as a bonafide Bhutanese citizen.
His sanctioned amount is Nu 70 mn of which he has got Nu 50 mn. He said he is willing to put in his own funds and take it up to Nu 100 mn as well.
On his political alignment he said is not a member of any party and he will support whoever does good for the country and people.
BDBL and RMA
The Bhutanese asked the BDBL Management and RMA on their processes and oversight when it comes to ESP loans.
The BDBL management said all branch offices receive applications, do document verification and upload it in the Loan Origination System (LOS). They decline it if it is not within ESP guideline and there is an adverse CIB Report like a Non Performing Loan (NPL).
If the proposal if above Nu 3 mn there is a review of the documents and the project and they schedule the pitching of proposals. There is no pitching for loans under 3 mn.
There is business idea pitching as per the scheduled date which can be in person or virtual. All the pitching committee members are to declare conflict of interest in writing.
The decision of the pitching panel members is duly noted by the project officers which could be declining it or recommending for further review.
There is a detailed review of the proposal and if it is positive then there is a preparation of the proposal to the approval committee.
The presentation is done to the main Committee comprising of the CEO and four GMs. There is again a declaration of conflict of interest.
If the loan is approved it is sent for post sanction documentation and then disbursement after which there is monitoring of the projects.
The BDBL said money is never released in one go but in stages and to get the money for the next stage they will have to show site works, bills and payments of the money spent in the last stage.
The bank said they do not give loans based on political criteria and the ESP is open to all Bhutanese citizens. The bank also said neither the CEO or the GMs have not gotten any call from any politician from any party to facilitate ESP loans.
When asked why BDBL cannot release the list of all those who got ESP loans the bank and RMA both said it will violate the Financial Services Act in doing so.
The RMA also does a compliance overview of not only all normal loans but also ESP loans to check and make sure it is within the ESP guidelines and limits and the last one was done in March 2025.
The RMA said a major check and balance with the ESP loans is that if it goes into NPL then the bank has to pay the government back and so it will reflect on the performance of the bank management.
Opposition
The Opposition Leader Dasho Pema Chewang said the original aim of the ESP was to revive the economy but as seen in the Parliament and the Economic and Finance Committee (EFC) hearings there were issues like lengthy process etc.
On the social media posts, he said there is no smoke without fire and they thought it is the right time to ask the ACC to look into the issue and the ACC can give the facts and figures.
The OL said they are not trying to fix anybody but only performing their role of check and balance. He said this is also an opportunity to clarify the issue.
MP Loday Tseten of Gangzur-Minjey who was the first to post the anonymous post on his Facebook said he was not making the allegation but was asking for the ACC to look into it.
He said the anonymous post had already gone viral and so his posting it will not have any more impact.
At the end of the day, the ACC will be going through all of the above in even greater detail by accessing documents the media cannot access and then come out with its own findings on whether there was wrong doing or not.
