KATHMANDU: The Kathmandu District Court has officially finalized the prison terms and financial penalties for the individuals convicted in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, where Nepali citizens were fraudulently promised resettlement in the United States.

Following a conviction verdict delivered on July 6 by Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka, the court handed down the specific sentences on Tuesday, July 14.

According to the court ruling, former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey received identical sentences of 4 years in prison along with a Rs 40,000 fine.

Rayamajhi was penalized under charges of fraud, organized crime, and offenses against the state.

Former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rijal were both handed down sentences of 2 years in prison and a Rs 20,000 fine.

Rijal’s penalty was determined by integrating distinct offenses related to government document forgery, fraud, organized crime, and crimes against the state.

The main masterminds behind the scam, Keshav Prasad Dulal and Sanu Bhandari, were both handed an integrated sentence of 4 years in prison and a Rs 40,000 fine each.

The individual breakdown of their criminal acts included 2 years in prison and a Rs 20,000 fine for government document forgery, 2 years in prison and a Rs 20,000 fine for fraud, 3 years in prison and a Rs 30,000 fine for organized crime, and 1 year in prison and a Rs 15,000 fine for offenses against the state.

Both masterminds have been held in pre-trial detention since the beginning of the case.

Indrajit Rai, another high-profile individual implicated in the case, also received an integrated sentence of 4 years in prison and a Rs 40,000 fine.

His specific sentence components consisted of 2 years in prison and a Rs 20,000 fine for fraud, 3 years in prison and a Rs 30,000 fine for organized crime, 1 year and 6 months in prison and a Rs 15,000 fine for offenses against the state, plus an additional 6 months in prison for the same charge.

However, because Rai is over 75 years old, the court applied a statutory 75 percent discount to his sentence.

Given that he has already served 3 years, 2 months, and 10 days in pre-trial detention, the court determined that he only needs to serve a remaining 2 months and 13 days in prison.