GAY NEPALESE STUDENT CHARGED WITH MURDER

San Francisco, CA on Saturday, March 21, 2009
By Crime Reporter: Malati Chopra / T-Fare Online
Correspondence: gayfareonline@gmail.com Subject: Malati
Born into a lower middle-class family in Nepal, Kaushal Niroula (AKA Kylie Monali) always had big dreams. Many of his class mates teased and bullied him for being effeminate but he never let that bother him. He knew that one day he had to get out of a society where gays were treated like second class citizens. His classmate Nabin (last name withheld) from Xaviers School batch of 1997 in Kathmandu says, "people in our school used to bully him and gave him the name 'Kaulie.' I also remember he was very preppy and flamboyant. He was interested in acting and theater but often got into trouble for making up his own lines while acting on stage!" Another classmate Subodh (last name withheld) from The Kathmandu Academy remembers him as someone who seemed to be “a sharp person and always very confident, even though many kids made fun of him behind his back. He told people in our school stories like he had powerful and rich family in America but no one believed him. No one with such a rich and powerful family background would send their kids to The Kathmandu Academy. The academy is basically an alternative for kids that cannot get into decent colleges” After graduating his O-Levels from Kathmandu, Kaushal applied to schools in the United States and was able to convince the US Embassy that he was a disciplined student who would come back to Nepal after college. His classmates were shocked to hear that Kaushal got a US Visa. Subodh said “most of us thought he was lying until he had left Nepal! We could not believe that someone who failed 10th grade and had such little resources could make it to the US. It must be because of his confidence in talking to the counselor.” Since he was a child, Kaushal always watched American TV channels like MTV, CNN etc. and tried hard to maintain an American accent. It was as if he always knew that he wasn’t meant to live in Nepal. His life was waiting for him in the gay capital of the world – San Francisco, USA!

Niroula arrived as an F1 student at the New College of California in San Francisco in 2002. Unfortunately, bad habits die hard and Niroula started lying and scamming people soon after his arrived. He avoided associating with Nepalese students probably because they would know his background and uncover his lies. He started making a lot of American friends, pretending to be from the “royal family of Nepal with over $3.5 million net worth.” He quickly became very popular and even got the attention of his college president, Martin Hamilton. Several staff members believe that Niroula provided sexual favors to Martin in exchange for good grades and waiving tuition. Some staff also believed that Niroula might have led Hamilton to believe that he would be providing a million dollar donation to the school – money he never had! Soon the college's auditors placed the school on probation and launched an investigation which led Hamilton to resign. Niroula claimed that he never received any favors from Hamilton and said he was "used as a tool" by faculty members “to bring Martin Hamilton down."

Shortly after walking away from this incident, Niroula became more confident and started getting involved in bigger scams. While on a trip to Hawaii he convinced a Japanese woman that he was from the royal family of Nepal and could get her a business visa if she would invest in his real estate business. Under Niroula's direction, the Japanese lady Hisamatsu agreed to open an account at the Bank of Hawaii and wire funds into it. Niroula then created fake checks and stole all her money. Once she found out, he told her he had borrowed the funds to save family members from Maoist kidnappers in Nepal. Hisamatsu filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco claiming that Niroula scammed her out of $508,000 in 2006. She also sued the bank for an additional $2.5 million in general damages. The bank denied responsibility and asked a judge to dismiss the suit. Further hearings are pending.

Armed with over half a million dollars of fraud money, Niroula began to live the high society life he had dreamed of since he was a child. He began dating a cute Latino bad-boy Daniel Garcia who was also suspected of several high profile crimes. They purchased a loft in the Financial District of San Francisco with a big down payment. They were seen at all the hot spots of San Francisco and according to his transsexual friend Amanda, Niroula often “dressed up as his alter ego Kylie Monali while visiting night clubs like Mezzanine and Deco Lounge.” Meanwhile they were suspected of using the remaining money to engage in several other scams including identity theft, grand theft, drugs, real estate, purchasing life insurance for terminally ill patients and stealing jewelry and art works worth over $600,000! Allegedly in an attempt to cover up his crimes, Niroula then seduced a 60 year old influential lawyer – David Replogle.

With over a million dollars cash, a boy friend and a powerful lawyer David by his side, Niroula preceded with his next scam even while FBI was watching every move he made. Niroula apparently seduced a rich 74 year old man Cliff Lambert. With the help of his lawyer boy friend, Niroula was able to secure a power of attorney from Cliff in David’s name. Once David had power of attorney, he started transferring Cliff’s million dollar home and cash into Niroula’s name.

Till date Cliff Lambert is missing. Law enforcement believes that Kaushal Niroula and Daniel Garcia used attorney David Replogle and several other gay friends including an art dealer to cover up the murder of Cliff Lambert for monetary benefits. The gay lovers Kaushal Niroula and Daniel Garcia have both been arrested and put in a maximum security prison and police have “sufficient evidence to charge these men with murder.” District attorney Rod Pacheco said “These con men have skillfully manipulated their way through millions of illegally obtained dollars and have managed to avoid consequences until now. Unfortunately, Cliff Lambert isn't the first victim of their ongoing scams but we plan on making sure he is the last."

Kaushal Niroula has not only brought shame to his family but also the Nepalese and GLBT communities. We hope that this example serves as a wake up call to all scam artists that the jail is your final destination. Let’s also keep Cliff Lambert and his family in our prayers while police are searching for his body in Palm Springs and here in the Bay area.