| Name: | Tenzin Norbu Kongtsa |
| Father’s name: | (late) Jigmey Dorje Kongtsa |
| Current age: | 47 |
| Current location: | New Jersey, US |
| 1981: | graduated from the Central School for Tibetans, Darjeeling; |
| 1985: | completed his college degree from Chandigarh, Punjab University;1986: appointed a mid-level staff of the Handicraft Export Unit run by the Department of Finance in New Delhi; |
| 1992-1994: | under the Fulbright Scholarship program of the Department of Education, completed two-year further studies in the United States; |
| 1994: | upon returning India, appointed head of the business section of Handicraft Export Unit in New Delhi; |
| 1996: | appointed head of the Potala Cooperation at New York, run by the Department of Finance; |
| 2000: | resigned when transferred to another post. |
Dharamshala – Traditionally, when pithy, chronological bios, like the one above, features in any official Tibetan announcements, they are more often than not for good reasons: appointments to high offices, recognition for meritorious service, and so on.
However, the bio of Mr Kongtsa, which appeared in an announcement issued by the Finance Department, has been for quite the opposite reasons.
“These are extreme cases, wherein the individuals concerned, despite repeated summons issued by the Administration, have simply refused to account for the charges of financial mismanagement in their audit reports,” says Kelsang Phuntsok of the Finance Department. “Let alone showing any remorse,” he adds.
According to the audit reports, while Mr Kongtsa was head of the Potala Cooperation, it suffered a loss of US$ 218,643.85 due to financial mismanagement, in addition to a shortage of US$ 47,712.19 drawn in the personal account of Mr Kongtsa.
Because of these losses, the Potala Cooperation, which was meant to be a showroom serving as a wholesale distributor of Tibetan handicraft products, closed shop in July 2002.
After exhausting every possible course of action, the Finance Department thus pronounced its “final verdict” in a public announcement earlier this week, declaring that the case of Mr Kongtsa is deemed as “an embezzlement of public funds” and “a gross dereliction of the duties of a Tibetan citizen enshrined under the article 2/14 of the Charter of the Tibetans in Exile”.
Since the exile Tibetan Administration cannot afford to litigate against every single individual, the Department hopes that this classic Tibetan last-resort measure of washing the dirty linen in public will serve as compelling case against those who sought to ignore their pending cases of financial wrongdoings.
(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.)
