Poison, Panic and Profit: Inside the $20 Million Everest Scam

As many as 32 people have been charged over a $20 million insurance scam under organised crime and fraud provisions in Nepal. The crime linked to the Mount Everest trekking routes in the tourism industry involved fake helicopter rescues of trekkers, police said.

Nepal, the Himalayan nation, attracts thousands of trekkers each year, who walk remote high-altitude trails, often involving emergency airlifts that are costly. Authorities found that a network of guides, trekking agencies, helicopter operators and medical staff for years exploited international travelers orchestrating fraudulent evacuations to cash in on the insurance payouts.

Police said they found cases in which multiple insurance claims were filed for a single rescue, false bills of hiring chartered flights for emergency evacuations, and private hospitals issued inflated or fabricated medical bills.

The trekking guides, investigators said, contaminated the food consumed by tourists with substances like baking soda to trigger gastrointestinal distress. When the trekkers complained of vomiting, weakness and nausea, which is usually assumed as altitude sickness, that could prove fatal at times, they were taken for emergency helicopter evacuations, as a life-saving measure.

Then they are shifted to hospitals or clinics where doctors also conspired with the fraudsters and fabricated diagnosis. This was followed by unnecessary treatment protocols to produce inflated hospital bills, as part of a bid to convince insurance providers that it is a medical emergency.

Reportedly, six suspects were first detained in January. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) probed the case for nearly three months and then arrested the fraudsters, after uncovering a trail of forged documents and manipulated records.

Police estimated that the entire network generated around $19.69 million insurance payouts, the largest fraud cases linked to Himalayan tourism. Court proceedings are underway. Charges have been filed against 32 people. So far 10 people have been arrested,” Manoj Kumar KC, chief of Nepal’s CIB said.