CIB blacklists troubled Oriental Builders and Developers

The Credit Information Bureau (CIB) blacklisted cash-strapped Oriental Builders and Developers yesterday, tightening the noose around Sudhir Basnet, the chairperson of Oriental Group.

This is probably the last blow to Basnet, whose various projects were building 70 independent houses and 1,700 apartments. He is said to have a liability of Rs three billion.

Basnet has been blacklisted by Credit Information Bureau as he has been unable to pay back bank loans.

Besides troubled housing and apartment projects like Oriental Builders and Developers, and Kohinoor Housing, he has to pay billions to depositors of Oriental Savings and Credit Cooperative, who have been left with no solution after his arrest on January 4. Kohinoor Hills, another project of Basnet, who is currently in police custody, was already blacklisted by CIB.

Basnet had invested money collected from depositors of Oriental Cooperative in housing projects by violating cooperatives regulations.

Basnet, who is currently facing multiple problems in his realty business, cooperatives and airlines, has been blamed for delaying the handing over of apartments and houses under his housing projects.

Oriental Savings and Credit Cooperative owes Rs 3.89 billion to over 7,000 depositors, whereas his debt-ridden Agni Air was put up for auction by a consortium of banks that had financed the airlines for failing to repay loans.

Though the consortium of banks — Grand Bank, Sunrise Bank and International Leasing and Finance Company that have lent Rs 650 million to Agni Air — had issued a seven-day auction notice for the sale of Agni’s five aircraft — three Jetstream 41s and two Dorniers — spare parts and land plots in Bhaktapur, the court has stayed the sale, and officials of the airlines and some tourism entrepreneurs have planned to revive the company after seeking additional loans of around Rs 250 million from the consortium.

Earlier, he was also planning to sell Vegas City housing project at Imadol, Lalitpur, as creditors were forcing him to pay their deposits. Kohinoor Hill Housing had launched the Vegas City project in 2009. Kohinoor had promised to hand over the property in two to three years but the construction process took long due to lack of cash flow. A total of 268 people had booked apartments and some two dozen have booked independent homes at Vegas City paying Rs 830 million.

Basnet had also tried to sell Imperial Apartments at Naxal, Kathmandu, to pay depositors of Oriental Cooperative.