Mount Everest guides are facing allegations of poisoning tourists’ food covertly to prompt costly helicopter rescue missions as part of a $20 million insurance fraud scheme, as per a Kathmandu Post report. In Nepal, authorities have pressed charges against 32 individuals, including owners of trekking companies, helicopter service providers, and hospital executives, for their involvement in organized crime and fraud linked to the conspiracy.
Investigators revealed that guides collaborating with trekking agencies purportedly tainted tourists’ meals with baking soda, leading to severe digestive issues resembling altitude sickness or food poisoning.
Upon falling ill, the visitors were allegedly coerced into consenting to costly emergency helicopter evacuations, with operators purportedly utilizing falsified medical and flight records to bill international travel insurers, authorities in the Himalayan country disclosed.
The unlawful profits were supposedly divided among guides, helicopter firms, trekking agencies, and hospitals where tourists underwent counterfeit treatments. The inquiry commenced in January following the apprehension of six executives from three prominent mountain rescue companies. The groups reportedly illicitly obtained at least $19.69 million through these fraudulent activities.
One company is accused of fabricating 171 out of 1,248 reported rescues, leading to over $10 million in wrongful payouts. Another company allegedly falsified 75 out of 471 claimed rescues, amounting to $8 million, while a third purportedly made 71 false claims exceeding $1 million.
Prosecutors are pursuing total penalties of $11.3 million. A court spokesperson emphasized that the case is being expedited due to its high-profile nature. This incident is not the first tourism scandal in Nepal, where the sector sustains more than one million jobs. Several major global insurers have recently ceased covering trekking tourists in Nepal due to escalating instances of fraud.
In 2018, the Nepalese government eliminated intermediaries in emergency evacuations, shifting the responsibility to tour operators for overseeing clients throughout journeys and mandating the submission of rescue and treatment particulars to the Department of Tourism.
Nonetheless, Manoj Kumar KC, head of Nepal’s specialized organized crime unit, highlighted that the scam persisted due to lenient punitive measures, stating that “when there is no action against crime, it flourishes. The insurance scam too flourished as a result.”