Nepal probe exposes $20M fraudulent rescue scheme involving lacing Mt Everest hikers’ food: report

An investigation has exposed a nearly $20 million insurance scam in Nepal involving guides who allegedly fake or induce mountainside rescues, including by lacing the food of some hikers near Mt. Everest, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post.

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal, where some adventurous individuals go to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. The mountain sits on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The Kathmandu Post reported that after it highlighted the fraud in 2018, the government established a fact-finding committee, issued a 700-page report and declared reforms. But last year, Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) reopened the matter and discovered that the fraud was increasing.

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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.

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Police recorded a case where 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 of time, Era International Hospital raked in deposits of over $15.87 million tied to 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, and Everest Experience and Assistance was tied to 71 suspicious rescues out of 601 flights, with claims of $11.04 million.

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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 numbered among the individuals who have been charged, the outlet indicated.