Everest guides accused of making trekkers ill to trigger fake rescues, 32 charged in $20m scam

Nepal’s mountaineering sector is confronting fallout from what critics have dubbed “The Great Everest Scandal” , a $20 million insurance scam linked to fake helicopter evacuations in the Himalayan trekking industry.

Authorities have charged 32 people after an investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police uncovered a network of trekking operators, helicopter firms and medical facilities accused of staging or exaggerating emergencies to claim payouts from foreign insurers.

Investigators say the scheme ran between 2022 and 2025 and may have conned about 4,700 foreign climbers and trekkers , triggering fake air “rescues” that generated nearly USD 20 million in insurance claims.

The fraud worked through exaggerated altitude sickness reports or pressure on trekkers with minor symptoms to request evacuations. Several passengers were sometimes flown together but billed separately to insurers, turning a single flight into multiple high-value claims.

Police also suspect hospitals and medical staff produced forged medical reports and admission records to justify insurance payouts. Companies identified in the probe include Mountain Rescue Service Pvt Ltd, Nepal Charter Service Pvt Ltd and Everest Experience and Assistance Pvt Ltd, which together handled hundreds of rescue operations.

Sensational reports circulating online described the scandal as “Sherpas secretly poison you” and portrayed it as the “heights of poison and plunder.” But investigators say those claims are unproven.

The Central Investigation Bureau said it has found no evidence that tourists were deliberately poisoned , calling such allegations misleading and unverified. Officials say the charge sheet focuses on insurance fraud supported by flight records, insurance documents and hospital files showing rescues arranged without genuine emergencies.

The controversy has unsettled Nepal’s climbing community as expeditions gather around Mount Everest. The Nepal Mountaineering Association urged strict action against offenders while warning that sensational claims risk damaging the country’s reputation as a safe destination for climbers.