The government authorities said on Tuesday that they were trying to establish whether the seven names linked to Nepal that appeared in the Panama Papers database released on Monday night were real names. 

The Inter.national Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Monday night put online records of over 200,000 secret offshore companies, with 19 names linked to Nepal-seven from the Panama Papers source and 12 from Offshore Leaks.

Upendra Mahato, Arun Kumar Chaudhary, Survansh Kumar Chaudhary, Karan Kumar Chaudhary, Uma Devi Singhania, Shila Chaudhary and Nawang Dolma are the seven names that appeared in the database, claiming to be their links to Nepal.

All of these are said to have offshore investment in the British Virgin Islands—a tax haven country. 

Officials have said the authorities first of all will try to find out who these people are, as some names match with those of some well-known business figures. “First of all we have to establish whether these people indeed are the well-known business persons of our country,” said Kishor Jung Karki, director of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DMLI), adding that the names that have appeared could have been used by others or maybe of those who share their names with some renowned business persons. 

Nepal’s law prohibits its citizens from investing abroad unless the wealth that is earned abroad. 

Out of the seven names listed in the ICIJ database, Upendra Mahato is a Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) with significant investment and wealth abroad. Other six persons whose names have been listed in the database do not have sizeable source of income from foreign countries. 

Unless the authorities finalise their investigation into the names, it’s just a matter of speculations, said some government sources. 

Nepalis stashing money abroad, however, is not a new thing, and government officials are very much aware of this fact. But nonetheless, nothing substantial has been done to bring the money back or investigate those who have been said to have parked money abroad. 

A banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, said that just because some names have appeared in the database does not make them guilty. “That can’t be used as proof,” said the banker. “There must be strong evidence to prove their links to offshore companies. Investigation of a large magnitude is required. I don’t think our government has the institutional capacity to carry out investigation of such a large magnitude.” 

However, some expressed say the DMLI must immediately summon the persons whose names have appeared in the database. 

“If they deny their links to offshore companies, our government must reach out to the government of the British Virgin Islands,” said a former official of the Ministry of Finance.