Money
Tax officials raid Tiger Palace Casino Resort
The Inland Revenue Office (IRO) raided Tiger Palace Casino Resort in Bhairahawa on Sunday following complaint that the casino housed at the five-star resort was selling alcoholic beverage without obtaining licence.The Inland Revenue Office (IRO) raided Tiger Palace Casino Resort in Bhairahawa on Sunday following complaint that the casino housed at the five-star resort was selling alcoholic beverage without obtaining licence.
Arjun Pathak, tax officer at the IRO, said the taxman had repeatedly told the casino to obtain the licence. “But it did not follow our instruction,” he said.
The IRO team, along with police, seized 121 bottles of liquors worth Rs300,000 from the casino.
Although the resort had obtained a licence to sell alcoholic beverage, the casino had not obtained a similar permit. “The casino was found selling alcoholic beverage bought for the resort,” said Pathak.
Yagya Prasad Dhungel, spokesperson of the Inland Revenue Department, said legal action would be taken against casino operators if found guilty.
The property located near the birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini and touted as the biggest casino resort in South Asia formally launched its operation on March 17. It is planning to draw majority of its clients from heavily populated Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Silver Heritage Group (SVH), a company based in Hong Kong and listed on the Australian stock market, is the operator of the casino resort.
The resort-cum-casino was built at a cost of Rs5.2 billion. SVH is currently embroiled in a legal battle in Nepal after it removed its local partner, who was overseeing implementation of a casino project in Bhairahawa.