However, the board is yet to decide on the finance general manager

Update:The Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Ltd (RICBL) reinstated its internal auditor who was suspended on July 11 in connection with the embezzlement case where an employee siphoned off about Nu 91.6M.

The internal auditor was reinstated since September 3. The RICBL suspended the internal auditor and the general manager of finance department for failing to conduct their duties in connection with the case.

RICBL’s executive director Sonam Dorji said that the internal auditor was reinstated based on the investigation and the explanation he submitted to the management. “We found that there were no strong grounds to continue to suspend him or take any action against him,” he said. “The decision he took was as per his own judgment.”

As for the finance manager, Sonam Dorji said the decision lies with the board unlike the internal auditor, which was up to the management.

The internal auditor was suspended for failing to inform the management even after the employee, Rinchen Wangdi, confessed to him that he had siphoned off about Nu 6M a day before he absconded. The internal auditor was in Paro since June 10 as a part of the special audit team to verify the transactions sent to the head office against the bank details during which the discrepancies were found.

In an earlier interview, RICBL officials said that the management had to take administrative action against the two employees based on the RICBL board’s decision.

Officials said that the finance general manager had to ensure that the regional offices kept no cash beyond Nu 5,000 unless there are payments to be made. To ensure that, the RICBL has its asset liability committee to which the finance general manager had to submit the information.

Rinchen Wangdi was a supervisor with RICBL’s Paro branch. He had absconded since June 20 from Paro. The supervisor, one of the main suspects was traced in Nepal more than a month after he absconded. He was flown to the country on August 1. He is currently under the Thimphu police custody.

The other main suspect is Bhutan National Bank’s (BNBL) assistant IT officer who served at the Paro branch office earlier. With the Anti-Corruption Commission investigating the case, the commission detained the assistant IT officer, an assistant credit officer and a support-staff at the BNBL’s Paro branch office. They were released about a week later.

The case is still under investigation.

Kinga Dema