An inquiry has unveiled a nearly $20 million insurance fraud scheme in Nepal, where guides are accused of orchestrating fake or unnecessary mountainside rescues. Allegations include some guides tampering with hikers’ food near Mt. Everest, as reported by The Kathmandu Post.

Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, is a hub for thrill-seekers aiming to conquer Mount Everest, the tallest peak on Earth.

This iconic mountain straddles the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The Kathmandu Post revealed that after uncovering the fraud in 2018, the Nepalese government formed a fact-finding committee. They produced a comprehensive 700-page report and announced plans for reform.

However, the case took a new turn last year when the Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) reopened the investigation and found that the fraudulent activities were on the rise.

This image, captured on May 31, 2021, shows climbers making their way up a slope towards the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal. (Credit: Lakpa Sherpa/AFP via Getty Images)

The outlet indicated that the CIB probe points out two main fraudulent scenarios.

One involves guides suggesting to tired adventurers who do not want to walk back that if they feign illness, a chopper will pick them up, according to The Kathmandu Post.

The outlet reported that, in the other scenario, guides and hotel staff, according to the CIB probe, have been coached to scare trekkers at high altitude, where altitude sickness can occur. They allegedly claim that the trekkers are in danger of dying and that only immediate evacuation will spare them. 

In some instances, investigators discovered that Diamox (acetazolamide) tablets, utilized to prevent altitude sickness, were given in conjunction with excessive water intake to cause the symptoms that would give grounds for a rescue, the outlet reported. 

In at least one instance noted in the investigation, guides allegedly laced food with baking powder to cause people to be unwell, the outlet stated.

Tents of mountaineers are pictured at Everest base camp in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu district April 18, 2024, on the tenth anniversary of an avalanche that killed 16 Nepali guides.  (Purnima Shrestha/AFP via Getty Images)

Police recorded a case in which four individuals were picked up on one chopper flight, but insurance claims were filed as more than one separate rescue, the report noted.

The framework tying the system of mass fraud together was detailed in police interrogations, according to the outlet, which reported that hospitals shell out 20% to 25% of the insurance money to trekking businesses and 20% to 25% to chopper rescue operators in return for patient referrals. 

Trekking guides and their businesses get a boost from inflated invoices, the outlet suggested. In some instances, tourists are offered money to join in the scam, The Kathmandu Post added.

In the period between 2022 and 2025, investigators found a whopping 4,782 foreign patients serviced at implicated hospitals, with 171 cases verified as fraudulent rescues, the outlet reported. During that span, Era International Hospital raked in deposits of over $15.87 million for such activities and Shreedhi International Hospital got more than $1.22 million, the outlet reported.

Mountain Rescue Service carried out 171 fake rescues from an overall 1,248 charter flights, scoring around $10.31 million from insurers, the outlet reported, adding that Nepal Charter Service executed 75 fake rescues out of 471 flights, claiming $8.2 million. Everest Experience and Assistance was allegedly tied to 71 suspicious rescues out of 601 flights, with claims of $11.04 million.

This photograph taken May 12, 2021, shows mountaineers as they climb during their ascent to the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal. (Pemba Dorje Sherpa/AFP via Getty Images)

CIB charged 32 people last month with offenses against the state and organized crime, the outlet reported, noting that nine individuals were arrested while others were said to be absconding.

Individuals from Mountain Helicopters, Altitude Air and Manang Air, which was rebranded as Basecamp Helicopters, as well as physicians and administrators with Swacon International Hospital, Shreedhi International Hospital and Era International Hospital were among the individuals who have been charged, the outlet indicated.