The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Paro Dzongkhag Court will be giving a deferred judgment in the embezzlement case of the former Paro BNB Bank Teller in the Nu 7.9 million (mn) embezzlement case.
This essentially means that the case is temporarily closed, and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) can only charge her in court once the former teller comes back to Bhutan from Australia.
This is because the bank teller had left for Australia even after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the OAG asked her not to leave.
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 International Airport on 17 January 2025.
According to a source, the Paro Dzongkhag Court on 30 April informed the OAG and the former bank teller’s father who is representing the former teller, that the court will give a deferred judgment and send it to the OAG, which the OAG is yet to receive as of Friday evening.
In Bhutan, deferred judgments are normally given when the judge feels there is not enough evidence to convict a person, and so gives room for the charging agency to bring additional evidence in the future.
However, in this case, the evidence is not the issue as it is an open and shut case, but the issue rather is the absence of the defendant.
A source said the judge’s main concern was that the defendant’s right to defend herself would be affected if she is not here, in person, in the country to defend herself.
The court asked the father by when the daughter would be coming back after her treatment, but the father did not give a definitive answer. It is not clear for how long the court will give the deferred judgment and if there will even by any time limit at all.
The judge had the option of having the trial in her absence and convicting her in absentia which some judges do, but it seems the judge decided against that.
After leaving for Australia, the OAG had contacted the former teller, but 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.
Earlier, 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.
It seems the father brought some documents which was submitted to the court. The OAG is yet to get a copy of those documents submitted by the father.
The OAG was 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.
