Chiranjivi Wagle held several important portfolios including home affairs, information, communication and land reforms between 1991 and 2002. He became the most senior politician convicted in Nepal, where officials and bureaucrats are often accused of corruption but are rarely investigated or convicted.
Supreme Court spokesman Hemant Rawal said that the judges threw out an appeal challenging a lower court’s verdict and sentenced Wagle to 1 1/2 years imprisonment in addition to a fine of 20 million rupees ($280,000). They said he abused power and amassed money and property beyond his means.
The case was filed in 2004 by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the watchdog agency in Nepal.
Rawal said that Wagle will begin serving his sentence next week.
Wagle, a member of the main opposition party Nepali Congress, could not be reached for comment Thursday.