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A court in Kathmandu on Monday ordered a five-days custody for six executives from three prominent mountain rescue agencies who were arrested for allegedly orchestrating staged fake helicopter rescues of foreign tourists and siphoned off nearly $19.7 million through insurance fraud.
Tourism is a cornerstone of Nepal’s economy, drawing nearly 1.2 million visitors each year, with about 300,000 trekking in high-altitude regions including Everest, Annapurna, Langtang and Manaslu.
The Nepal Police said the suspects were arrested as part of an inquiry into what officials describe as a sophisticated racket that exploited Nepal’s multi-million-dollar trekking industry by arranging unnecessary helicopter evacuations from high-altitude regions and submitting forged medical and flight documents to justify the rescues that were later billed to foreign insurance companies.
“In our initial investigation, we found that these companies were involved in around 300 fake rescues,” Shiva Kumar Shrestha, a spokesman for the Central Investigation Bureau, told OCCRP on Monday.
Mr. Shrestha said the alleged fraud appeared to be systemic and extended well beyond the six executives now in custody. “Hospitals, helicopter operators, and guides are also linked in this chain; we are investigating this,” he added.
Prosecutors are pursuing charges for “offenses against the national interest,” a designation officials say reflects the reputational damage the scheme has inflicted on the country and its tourism sector.
The investigation draws on findings from a 2018 government probe that identified more than a dozen companies linked to fraudulent rescue operations, though no action was taken at the time. Police said the current case is based on those earlier findings combined with newly obtained evidence.
Industry officials say the arrests, while alarming, could help restore trust in a sector that depends heavily on foreign visitors.
“Nepal has an image of pure spirit and honest people, and some of these wrong practices weren't giving a good image,” Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive of the Nepal Tourism Board, told OCCRP. “If it is corrected now, in the long run, it will do good things. And if this is investigated, it will increase visitors’ confidence.”
