Public AreaBetween 2022 and 2025, it was found that 317 of the 4,782 medical evacuations from Mount Everest were fake rescue operations.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police uncovered an insurance fraud scheme targeting climbers on Mount Everest. Between 2022 and 2025, it was reported that trekking guides fabricated medical emergencies for their clients, unnecessarily evacuating them by helicopter to local hospitals. All these fraudsters shared in the scheme, which netted them over $20 million.
It is claimed that at least 317 of these fake rescue operations occurred within a three-year period. The conspiracy involved incidents such as fake documents, unnecessary medical treatments, and an attempt by a guide to poison a client with flour to mimic symptoms of altitude sickness. The CIB stated that they would work resolutely to end this fraud, expressing that it has caused "serious damage" to Nepal's reputation.
The Inside Story of Mount Everest Insurance Fraud
Every year, tens of thousands of tourists trek to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, while countless other climbers hike on lower-altitude trails.
It is common for climbers to suffer from altitude sickness on Everest, but the deadliest cases occur in the mountain's section known as the "Death Zone," at 26,000 feet. Indeed, the mountain is littered with the bodies of climbers who have died from lack of oxygen, hypothermia, or fatal natural disasters.
Daniel Oberhaus/Wikimedia CommonsWhile only about 1,000 people attempt to summit Mount Everest each year, tens of thousands of other hikers set out to reach Base Camp.
However, the climbers involved in this fraud were not experienced mountaineers like Edmund Hillary or Beck Weathers. And the fraudsters were not the famous Sherpas who organize dangerous expeditions to the summit of Everest.
This recent investigation by the CIB revealed that unnecessary medical evacuations were being performed on ordinary climbers with mild altitude sickness symptoms. Typically, guides would advise these clients to rest, drink plenty of water, and descend slowly from Everest. However, in some cases, according to the CIB, trekking guides convinced climbers that they would die if they were not immediately rescued by helicopter.
So far, charges have been filed against 32 individuals in connection with this complex fraud. In a statement made by the CIB, this practice was strongly condemned, stating that it has harmed "Nepal's nation, self-respect, independence, and international reputation."
Fraud Scheme with Fake Medical Documents and Misinformation
According to a report by Kathmandu Post in March 2026, trekking guides, helicopter operators, and Kathmandu hospitals collaborated to file claims with climbers' travel insurance agencies for unnecessary evacuations and medical treatments. Hospitals received millions of dollars in payments and shared them with the guides who referred patients and the helicopter companies that transported them.
Daniel Oberhaus/Wikimedia CommonsA helicopter takes off from the Base Camp of Mount Everest in 2016.
At least three medical facilities treated these patients and falsely reported their conditions to insurers by conducting unnecessary CT scans. It was reported that an office assistant attached their own x-ray report from a year prior to an insurance claim, and some patients' discharge summaries included digital signatures of doctors who did not treat them — sometimes without the doctors' knowledge.
In one incident, CCTV footage showed patients drinking beer nearby while claiming to be under treatment.
According to Kathmandu Post, Dr. Girwan Raj Timilsina from Shreedhi International Hospital told investigators, "Our hospital has also given a portion of its profits to trekking companies and rescue companies to promote our business."
Additionally, documents from several helicopter companies revealed fake flight manifests. In one case, a single helicopter was said to have carried four passengers, but applications were made as if each had been transported separately to different insurance companies, significantly increasing payments.
Wikimedia CommonsWhen helicopters are sent to Mount Everest during rescue operations, it can be difficult for insurance companies to understand what actually happened.
Typically, travel policies require insurers to be notified before large claims, such as helicopter evacuations, are made, but the fraudsters took advantage of the Himalayas' remoteness, delaying the verification of claims until after the transport operations occurred, thus gaining more time to falsify their documents.
While some reports claim that trekking guides "poisoned" their clients, so far only one such case has been confirmed: A guide was alleged to have mixed flour into a climber's food, causing symptoms of nausea that could be mistaken for altitude sickness. In several other cases, guides reportedly led their clients to drink excessive water, resulting in low sodium levels that could worsen mild altitude sickness.
Still, the CIB takes these allegations seriously. The agency had previously investigated similar fraud reports in 2018 and initiated a series of reforms, but CIB chief Manoj Kumar KC told Kathmandu Post, "Fraud continued due to insufficient penal actions. When no action is taken against crimes, they develop. Insurance fraud has developed for this reason as well."
This time, authorities plan to end this fraud without causing lasting damage to Nepal's tourism industry.
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