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Suspect Steals Jewelry from 78-year-old Lady For Bail

Court documents describe Kaushal Niroula - a San Francisco man charged with stealing $300,000 in jewelry from a 78-year-old Novato woman - as a financial predator whose schemes have landed him in a deep legal hole.
But according to Niroula and his supporters, he is a victim of
political persecution, harsh authorities and flagrant lies. “The
district attorney does not have a case,” Niroula, speaking in a crisp
English accent, said in an interview at the county jail. “I’m very
confident the Marin County district attorney is going to realize this
case isn’t going anywhere.” Niroula, 27, won a battle Friday in Marin
Superior Court, where Judge Faye D’Opal reduced his bail from $2
million to $150,000, over the objections of the district attorney’s
office. Niroula gasped in relief when D’Opal issued the ruling, then
broke down in tears at the defense table. But authorities still have a
federal immigration hold on Niroula, a citizen of Nepal, which could
indefinitely delay his release. Niroula said he is seeking political
asylum because he has close ties to the royal family of Nepal, where
the monarchy was pushed from power this year after a grinding 10-year
civil war. “He’s a man without a country,” said Niroula’s defense
attorney, Robert Amparan.

Niroula came to the United States in 2002
as a student, and since then he has become entangled in an academic
controversy that felled a college president, a lawsuit alleging a
$500,000 fraud in Hawaii, a San Francisco police investigation alleging a $485,000 theft, and now the Novato jewelry case.
As a student at the New College of California in San Francisco, Niroula
became a friend of the college president, Martin Hamilton. In 2006,
their relationship prompted staff complaints that Hamilton showed
Niroula special treatment - including changing his grades and waiving
tuition - in exchange for a $1 million pledge to the school. The
college’s accreditor, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges,
placed the school on probation and launched an investigation. Martin
ultimately resigned, acknowledging irregularities but denying any
grade-fixing. “If anything, I’m open and naive,” Hamilton told Insider
High Ed, an industry publication. “I am guilty of treating him
differently. É (But) the allegation that I was giving him a degree in
exchange for a million bucks - that is just degrading to my soul.” The
donation was never made; Niroula reportedly told the school that he had
$3.5 million that was inaccessible because of the political unrest in
Nepal. Niroula, in the jail interview, denied receiving undeserved
treatment at the school and said he was “used as a tool” by faculty
malcontents “to bring Martin Hamilton down.” Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed
in federal court in San Francisco claims that Niroula scammed a woman
out of $508,000 in 2006. The woman, Megumi Hisamatsu of Japan, says she
was befriended by Niroula while she was on a trip to Hawaii, and that
he claimed to be a wealthy businessman who could get her a commerce
visa if she would invest in his real estate proposals. Under Niroula’s
direction, Hisamatsu agreed to open an account at the Bank of Hawaii
and wire funds into it, the lawsuit claims. Hisamatsu says Niroula
forged checks and stole her money, then claimed he borrowed the funds
to save family members from Nepalese kidnappers. Hisamatsu sued Niroula
and the bank for the funds plus $2.5 million each in general damages.
The bank has denied responsibility and asked a judge to dismiss the
suit, and further hearings are set for Sept. 19. Earlier this year, San
Francisco police opened an investigation into whether Niroula took
$485,000 from an associate to buy a painting, but spent the money on a
gambling trip to Las Vegas instead, according to court documents. San
Francisco authorities obtained a $250,000 warrant for Niroula’s arrest.
Niroula, aware of the looming warrant, needed to raise $25,000, or 10
percent of the warrant amount, to post bail, so he stole jewelry from
the 78-year-old mother of a friend in Novato, authorities said. Then he
allegedly gave the jewelry to an associate in exchange for bail money. 

His friend was Stephen Valentino, 54, who
lives with his mother, InaMae Valentino. Niroula was a friend for five
years and occasionally stayed with the Valentinos. “This has been one
of the most disheartening and painful experiences in my life because
this is somebody I cared about and I believed was a true friend,”
Valentino said. “He’s a very charming, a delightful person - most con
artists are, if they’re good at it.” Valentino describes himself as a
nationally syndicated radio host and entertainer who has worked in
musicals, opera, film, television and voiceovers. Niroula, however,
claims Valentino has never held a real job and in fact needed Niroula’s
financial assistance to pay his mortgage and buy a washer/dryer. “When
people open their mouth and talk, they don’t realize the repercussions
of what comes out of it or consider the results,” Niroula said. “It
ends up hurting somebody else. I’m going to have to carry this scar for
the rest of my life.” Valentino declined to comment on Niroula’s
remarks. “I know that the truth will come out,” Valentino said.
“There’s so much that just doesn’t make sense.” The jewelry’s
value is listed in police reports as more than $300,000, although
Niroula’s supporters dispute its actual worth. The jewelry was
recovered by Marin sheriff’s investigators. Niroula pleaded not guilty
Friday to charges of theft and embezzlement of an elder adult, and
D’Opal ordered him to return to court Sept. 3 for a preliminary
examination of the evidence. He faces up to five years in prison if
convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Linda Witong. Niroula remained
in custody at the county jail Friday night.