Overview
- In March 2026, police filed a lengthy charge sheet in Kathmandu District Court accusing a network across trekking, helicopter, and hospital operations of faking rescues and records to tap travel insurance.
- Investigators say the scheme ran from 2022 to 2025, logged more than 300 suspicious evacuations, touched about 4,782 foreign trekkers, and sought roughly $19.7–$20 million from insurers.
- Police describe tactics that included loading several trekkers onto one helicopter and billing each as a private flight, plus forged manifests, invoices, and hospital admissions to inflate claims.
- Named entities in court filings and police reports include Mountain Rescue Service, Nepal Charter Service, and Everest Experience for suspect flights, and Era International and Shreedhi hospitals for multi‑million‑dollar receipts.
- Reports have alleged food tampering to induce illness, but the CIB says it has found no forensic evidence of poisoning to date, while court proceedings continue and operators report cancellations and insurer caution.