A sudden resignation has pulled back the curtain on a complex web of bank transactions, business links, and political pressure in Nepal. As questions grow louder, Sudan Gurung’s exit is only the beginning of a much deeper investigation.
Balen Shah and Sudan Gurung
In a move that was peak Gen-Z, Nepal’s Home Minister Sudan Gurung decided that the best way to quit one of the most powerful jobs in the country was via a social media post. But this wasn’t a “peace out” post. Gurung claimed he was stepping down because he wanted a “fair investigation” into his life. He said he didn’t want any “conflict of interest” to mess with the official probe.
But why now? Well, the heat was getting too high. The tea was spilling everywhere. Gurung had been linked to a businessman named Deepak Bhatt, who is currently being grilled for money laundering. When you’re the guy in charge of the police and domestic security, being “business besties” with a guy under investigation for financial crimes is a massive red flag.
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As soon as the “Post” button was hit, the government went into overdrive. Prime Minister Balendra Shah didn’t even wait for a replacement. He stepped right into the Home Ministry office himself. Now, PM Shah is wearing three hats: Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and Home Minister.
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To understand how we got here, we have to look at Hami Nepal. This was the non-profit that made Sudan Gurung a star. It was supposed to be about the youth, about change, and about helping people. But the bank statements tell a story that feels less like “charity” and more like creative accounting.
Investigators found that Hami Nepal had accounts at both Himalayan Bank and Nabil Bank. Here’s where it gets weird: the Himalayan Bank account was suddenly closed in February 2025. Before the lights went out on that account, it had about 5.34 million rupees sitting in it. Curiously, about 3.09 million of that was shuffled over to the Nabil Bank account right before the closure.
Then there’s the case of Manita Devkota. Back in 2015, she sent 440,000 rupees to the non-profit. She’s not a known donor. Why was she sending nearly half a million rupees to a then-small organisation? This is one of the many “empty boxes” in Gurung’s financial history that investigators are trying to fill.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were desperate to help. Donations were pouring in from everywhere to help buy oxygen, food, and medicine. Records show that Gurung’s personal Nabil Bank account received about 6 million rupees between May and June 2021.
The sources for this money were varied, but the purpose was COVID-19 relief. On August 5, 2021, Gurung moved about 2.59 million from this personal account into the Hami Nepal organisational account. While he did move some of the money, the big question remains: why was public aid money sitting in his private bank account for months?
In the world of high finance and politics, mixing personal cash with public charity is the ultimate “no-no.” It gives the impression that the money was just resting in his account, and it confirms that he was taking aid money directly into his own pocket before deciding how much to give back to the organisation.
If you look at Gurung’s bank activity in May 2023, it looks like a high-stakes poker game. On May 9, 2023, two men dropped a massive amount of cash into his account. One deposited 2.25 million rupees, and other deposited 3.75 million. That is a total of 6 million rupees in a single day.
What happened next? The very next day, May 10, Gurung spent 5 million rupees. He sent 2.5 million to Liberty Micro Life Insurance and another 2.5 million to Star Micro Insurance. Just like that, he became a major shareholder with 25,000 shares in these companies.
When people started asking where he got 6 million rupees in 24 hours, Gurung had an answer ready. He claimed it was a loan. He even produced a document and asked the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward No. 5 to certify it. He says he borrowed the money from Vijay Kumar Shrestha to buy the shares.
But investigators are scratching their heads. Is the Vijay Kumar Shrestha who sent the money the same guy in the loan document? And why would a busy businessman like Chang Agarwal, who owns companies like Get Ahead Trading and Winner Liquor, just happen to drop millions into a politician’s account the day before a big stock purchase? It looks less like a loan and more like a “gift” with extra steps.
One of the strangest chapters in this saga involves a student named Penchu Dolma Tamang. She isn’t a tycoon or a political heavy hitter. She’s a student at IEC College of Art and Fashion in Bishalnagar. Yet, between April 2023 and October 2024, she was a regular “remittance machine” for Sudan Gurung.
She sent him:
– 385,000 rupees in April 2023
– 390,000 rupees later that same month
– 250,000 rupees in May 2023
– 200,000 rupees and 400,000 rupees in May and October 2024
In total, this fashion student sent the Home Minister over 2.42 million rupees. Why? Was it for a business deal? Was it a “loan” too? The records don’t say. There is no listed reason for these transfers.
It’s an old saying: “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” For Sudan Gurung, his financial “friends” are people who are already on the government’s naughty list. Specifically, Sushil Kumar Shrestha and Suresh Kumar Yadav.
These two individuals have been under the “microscopic surveillance” of investigation agencies for a long time because they tend to make massive cash transactions that go way over the legal limits. Records show that these two were busy depositing cash into an account held by Chhiring Chombel Gurung, which then made its way into Sudan’s account.
Then there’s the 4 million rupees in cash deposited by Anjal Manandhar into Gurung’s Laxmi Sunrise Bank account. Between 2021 and 2025, that specific account saw a total of 10.7 million rupees flow through it. A huge chunk of that was just “cash.”
Gurung hasn’t been able to explain why these high-risk individuals were so interested in fueling his bank accounts.
So, what does a young, trendy minister do with all this “unexplained” cash? He lives the life. Investigators tracked his spending and found a very consistent pattern. Gurung’s favourite places to swipe his card were cafes, high-end restaurants, exclusive clubs, and cinemas. He was living the “Gen-Z” dream on a minister’s salary, or perhaps, on something more.
His investments weren’t just in insurance. He has stakes in Adventure Villa Pvt. Ltd., Lagum Premium Apartment Pvt. Ltd., and Hope Holdings.
The most suspicious part? The Hope Holdings account. Between late 2024 and mid-2025, nearly 1.2 million rupees moved through it. Investigators found weird circle of money where cash would go from Hope Holdings to Lagum Apartments, then to Sudan Gurung, and then back again. Even non-profit Hami Nepal got in on action depositing 450,000 rupees into the Hope Holdings account for absolutely no stated reason.
Despite all the social media posts and “clarifications,” Sudan Gurung is in deep trouble. He claims he is innocent, but the documents tell a story of “Interconnected Business Chaos.”
Here is what we still don’t know. Where did the millions of “cash deposits” actually come from? Why was a charity for the youth sending money to a private holding company? If the 6 million was a loan, why was it paid back in a way that looks like a stock purchase? Who are the mystery people and why are they sending money?
Gurung’s “Gen-Z” movement promised to clean up politics, but right now, his own financial records are looking pretty messy.
The public is watching, the banks are talking, and for the first time, the “social media minister” might find that a “delete” button won’t fix this problem.
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