The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police has arrested six individuals linked to three prominent mountain rescue and helicopter companies for allegedly staging false emergency evacuations to claim insurance payouts from overseas policies, according to Everest Chronicle, Onlinekhabar, and The Himalayan Times.
The operation used foreign trekkers and climbers in Nepal’s high-altitude regions, particularly around popular areas like Everest and Annapurna. Operators reportedly fabricated medical emergencies, issued bogus invoices and medical reports, and misrepresented voluntary charter flights as urgent rescues.
In some cases, a single helicopter trip would be billed multiple times under different emergency pretexts, inflating costs dramatically. For instance, a standard Kathmandu-Lukla flight worth roughly $2,500 was claimed for up to $31,000 through repeated false invoicing. Private hospitals were also allegedly involved in providing false documentation to support the claims.
The arrested suspects include Jayaram Rimal and Vivek Pandey (also referred to as Bibek Pandey in some reports) from Mountain Rescue Service Pvt Ltd; Rabindra Adhikari and Bibek Raj Thapaliya from Nepal Charter Service Pvt Ltd; and Mukti Pandey and Subhash KC from Everest Experience and Assistance Pvt Ltd, according to Everest Chronicle.
The six individuals were detained on Sunday following court-issued warrants. Authorities say that additional complaints about other...
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