Nepal is one of those countries where acquiring foreign currency is a difficult task, even for those who know the city well. The country has limited reserves, and there are quotas in place, even for international travel.
The country gets the biggest chunk of its dollars from remittance sent by Nepalis working in the Middle-East and Malaysia, where they earn money in local currency, but are allowed to send the money home in US dollars. The other major source of US dollars, for Nepal, is tourism.
However, tourists carrying dollars exchange them at local money exchanges and hotels they live in. It is not convenient for them to exchange the money at banks.
This is a ‘loophole’ that Chinese ‘businessmen’ are exploiting to extract dollars out of Nepal, and smuggle them to their own country, police have found. According to reports, it is difficult to acquire US dollars in China, and more so for those who intend to use it to do things deemed illegal by Chinese law.
Only on Saturday, three Chinese nationals (pictured above) posing as ‘bag’ sellers were arrested with over Rs 400 million ($4 million) near the border with China. According to police, Tong Feng, one of the arrested, knows Nepali. The passports of all three are full of Nepali visas. Tong and his accmplices Chao Xialing and Chao Liang Fang were living at a hotel in Thamel, an area of Kathamandu that has been witnessing a boom in number of Chinese hotels and restaurants.
The Chinese nationals told police that they collected the dollars from a casino in Kathmandu.
The case is not an isolated one. According to police, more than 30 Chinese nationals have been arrested in Nepal on different charges in the last two years, and most of the cases are related to smuggling of foreign currency.
The smuggling of dollars from a foreign currency-starved country like Nepal is a big issue that needs serious attention from the authorities, police officials say. “We do not even get $500 in cash when we travel abroad,” says SSP Sarbendra Khanal. “How do these Chinese people come here and collect millions of dollars?”
Around two years ago, 50-year-old Chinese national Yunglo was arrested at Nepal’s only international airport, trying to smuggle $113,000s. Further investigation revealed that she had been frequenting Nepal, and there were times when she had come in the morning and left at night.
Just two years ago, 14 Chinese national were arrested with more than $17,000 at Kathmandu’s Koteshwor, in a midnight raid.
Police officials say it’s time the government started monitoring Chinese establishments around Nepal, and take stringent steps to discourage money changers and casinos from handing over foreign currency to Chinese nationals.
