(TibetanReview.net, Apr03’26) – The dangers of climbing the world’s highest peak, Mt Everest, posed by nature and its elements are pretty well-known. However, other dangers also appear to lurk. Nepal has charged 32 people involved in facilitating climbs and rescue operations for scamming climbers and insurance companies. They deliberately sickened climbers, made false or inflated insurance and other claims, including by faking rescues, reported kathmandupost.com Mar 23, citing Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police.
Mt Everest stands on the border of Tibet and Nepal. The Tibetan side (North Side) of Mt Everest is closed to foreign expeditions for the Spring 2026 climbing season. The China-Tibet Mountaineering Association has confirmed the closure, causing operators to shift their operations to the Nepal side.
And as Nepal’s spring Everest climbing season opened this week amid a police probe into an alleged insurance fraud worth nearly $20 million in which guides, helicopter operators, hospital staff and agents are accused of staging or inflating medical emergencies to trigger costly helicopter evacuations and bogus insurance claims, reported the timesofindia.com Apr 3, referring to the Post report.
The Post said it it highlighted the fraud in 2018, following which the government established a fact-finding committee, issued a 700-page report, and declared reforms. But last year, the CIB reopened the matter after discovering that the fraud was increasing.
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 feigned illness, a chopper will pick them up. 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 help them.
In some instances, investigators were sated to have 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. In at least one instance, guides allegedly laced food with baking powder to cause people to be unwell.
Police have 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 framework tying the system of mass fraud together was detailed in police interrogations, with the report saying hospitals shelled 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. What is more, in some instances, tourists are offered money to join in the scam, the report said.
As regards the scale of the scam, the report said that 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. 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 report said.
CIB charged 32 people last month with offenses against the state and organized crime, noting that nine individuals were arrested while others were absconding.
Individuals from Mountain Helicopters, Altitude Air and Manang Air (since 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 report indicated.