The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on 17th March charge sheeted the Nu 7.9 million (mn) embezzlement case by the former Paro BNB Bank teller to the Paro District Court.
According to the OAG, the former teller had left for Australia despite being told not to do so by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the OAG.
OAG had informed the Foreign Ministry about her case but the ministry failed to inform the Department of Immigration and so she left the country for Australia via Paro airport on 17th January 2025.
The OAG recently contacted her, and she said that she needs around three months’ time to be back, as she has some medical treatment and that she is enrolled in a course.
The Paro Dzongkhag Court called her father who stood as the surety for his daughter while signing her release bond from ACC custody.
The court, in the preliminary hearing, asked the father to bring medical certificates from Australia showing her need to be absent and also a Power of Attorney from her allowing him to represent her.
The OAG is charging her with embezzlement of Nu 7.9 mn from the BNB Paro branch.
The former teller created fictional deposits into her two friends accounts and then later transferred the money to her account and used it.
In one case it was Nu 4.5 mn, in another case it was Nu 2.9 mn and in the third case it was Nu 0.5 mn.
The branch, itself, caught the embezzlement in November 2023 and recovered the money from her.
The OAG is charging her with three counts of embezzlement and is asking for the maximum punishment of third degree felony under the ACC Act which is five to nine years given the amount involved.
