Government scraps licence of Indian 'Casino King' in Nepal

The government has scrapped the license of Indian ‘Casino King’ Rakesh Wadhwa to operate casinos in Nepal for his alleged failure to fulfill tax liabilities.

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), which sanctions operating license, has scrapped the license of Nepal Recreation Centre (NRC), which is owned by Wadhwa and operates four casinos in Nepal.

"The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation took the decision to scrap NRC's license on Sunday," according to Tourism Secretary Ganesh Raj Joshi.

The Ministry will issue a formal notice to this effect today, sources at MoTCA said.

"We will issue a notice on Thursday informing the NRC that its operating license has been cancelled," said Laxman Prasad Bhattarai, the spokesperson at the Ministry.

The Ministry will also write to the Home Ministry, the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) and other offices concerned with the matter.

Earlier this year, the government began the process to close down some of the casinos that attracts thousands of foreign tourists, mostly Indians, after recommendations from the finance ministry for tax evasions.

Even though gambling is illegal in Nepal, eight hotels in the capital and two in the popular tourist town of Pokhara run casinos under special government permits that bars local people.

On June 16, MoTCA had decided to scrap the permit of NRC if it failed to pay outstanding royalties, and issued a seven-day deadline to that effect on June 18.

The NRC operation was automatically cancelled when it failed to honour the seven-day deadline.

NRC manages four casinos - Casino Nepal at Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza, Casino Anna at Hotel Annapurna, Casino Everest at Hotel Everest and Casino Tara at Hotel Hyatt Regency in the capital.

The NRC's managing director Wadhwa has been living outside Nepal for the past 5-6 months since Nepal Police and Revenue Investigation Department issued arrest warrant for his alleged failure to clear his tax liabilities.

Casino Nepal owes NRs 13 crore while Casino Anna owes NRs 11 crore as revenues to the government.