Scam in mountains: Nepal probes fake rescue incidents

KATHMANDU, Nepal

A court in Nepal is investigating 32 persons on charges of scamming millions of dollars from tourists by organizing fake rescues during their trek to the Himalayas, an official told Anadolu.

Based on a months-long investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), a special investigation wing under the Nepal Police, the district attorney's office earlier this week filed a case at the Kathmandu District Court.

Owners of prominent trekking agencies, helicopter companies and hospital owners are dragged into this scam.

Dipak Kumar Shrestha, a spokesperson at the Kathmandu District Court, told Anadolu that the court officials are recording the statement of the accused. Nine of the arrested suspects were produced before the court on Sunday, while 23 others are absconding.

Mukti Pandey and Subash KC of Everest Experience and Assistance P. Ltd., Bibek Pandey and Jay Ram Rival of Mountain Rescue P. Ltd. and Rabindra Adhikari of Nepal Charter Services were produced before the court.

According to court spokesperson Shrestha Girban Raj Timalsina, the operator of Shreedi International Hospital, Sandip Raj Tiwari of Royal Holidays Adventure, Pasang Sherpa of Himalaya Trekking and Expedition and Santosh Adhikari of Flying Yak were also produced before the court.

All the accused are implicated in organized crime. Police investigation shows these agencies used to feed baking soda to tourists so that they could get sick. The profit made from the fake rescue was shared among stakeholders -- the hospital, the trekking agency, helicopter companies and guides.

“A charge sheet has been filed at the court,” said Shrestha, adding: “The court is recording statements of the accused, giving high priority to this corruption case.”

The prosecutors have sought Rs 1.51 billion (over $10 million) from the accused. “The fine varies from person to person based on their offenses,” said the spokesperson.

In January, CIB had arrested six executives from three prominent mountain rescue agencies for allegedly orchestrating fake helicopter rescues of foreign tourists. They were accused of siphoning off nearly 19.7 million through insurance fraud. Later, hospital operators, pilots, and trekking agency owners were also implicated in the course of the investigation.

These agencies, according to CIB head Manoj KC, had forced trekkers to agree to evacuation and produced fake documents to pocket insurance money in case of emergency rescue.

Police investigation shows these agencies had scammed at least $19.69 million in insurance money from tourists. Details provided by the police show Mountain Rescue Service P. Ltd. had organized 171 “suspicious rescues” of the total 1,248 rescues it arranged. By arranging fake rescue operations in collaboration with the hospitals, it allegedly scammed over $10 million.

Nepal Chapter Service P. Ltd is accused of scamming $8.2 million and Everest Experience and Assistance pocketed $1.1 million.

Every year, thousands of trekkers arrive in Nepal, a mountainous country, for trekking. But the trekking and rescue companies were found scamming them to pocket insurance money. Worried over their loss, some insurance companies, including Travellers Assists, had stopped selling insurance packages for tourists trekking to Nepal.

In 2018, the Nepalese government formed a probe panel involving bureaucrats. The report wasn’t made public, nor were actions taken against fraudulent companies. After mass protests in September last year, the police had begun an investigation.