KATHMANDU: A major tax evasion scam involving over Rs 680 million has been uncovered by the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI), implicating shareholders and directors of Nepal Can Move Pvt Ltd, based in Tinkune, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32.

According to DRI spokesperson and Deputy Director General Krishna Kumari Shrestha, the company’s top figures — Sudip Acharya, Jeevan Gyawali, Ganga Bahadur Thapa, Manish Prasad Acharya, Mithu Poudel, and Deputy Executive Director Sangam Poudel — colluded to evade taxes by running their online business through a server hosted in Australia.

This setup allowed them to hide actual sales from Nepal’s tax authorities by omitting large volumes of revenue from VAT and income tax filings.

The department’s investigation, triggered by a surprise inspection, uncovered critical financial records, including trial balances from FY 2019/20 to FY 2024/25.

Evidence showed the company sold services on the NCM online portal — established in FY 2019/20 — but failed to declare these sales to Nepal’s Inland Revenue Department, violating the Revenue Leakage (Investigation and Control) Act, 1995.

The DRI has filed a case at the High Court Patan, demanding full recovery of the evaded tax amount — Rs 680 million, along with 100% penalty, totaling Rs 1.36 billion.

Sangam Poudel, who is accused of aiding in the crime, faces a lighter sentence request compared to others. The department also noted that main accused Sudip Acharya (95.53% shareholder) and Jeevan Gyawali (16% shareholder) have been absconding despite repeated summons.

The accused allegedly manually altered billing records, underreported transactions, and coordinated operations to keep the revenue system in the dark.

DRI asserts that the company deliberately operated the portal outside Nepal’s jurisdiction by placing its server in Australia, enabling them to sidestep scrutiny and hide actual sales volumes.