Mount Everest – a popular travel destination: mountaineers line up to climb the summit.Image: AP @Nimsdai Project Possible
A million-dollar scandal is shaking Nepal: mountaineers are said to have been systematically pressured to take rescue flights. When it wasn’t enough to scare tourists, the methods became harsher.
Apr 2, 2026, 10:34 amApr 2, 2026, 10:34 am
Matti Hartmann / t-online
On Mount Everest You can earn a lot of money, rich tourists dig deep into their pockets to stand on the 8,849 meter high summit of the highest mountain in the world. But now a case of fraud is shaking the trust that mountaineers have to have in their mountain guides: In Nepal Those responsible for various companies are said to have systematically swindled millions.
It’s about rescue flights with helicopters that are sometimes unnecessary or have been billed for multiple times. In some cases, mountaineers are even said to have been deliberately poisoned to make a rescue flight necessary.
Among other things, some mountain guides are said to have deliberately frightened tourists. They are said to have given some mountaineers a medication that was actually used to prevent altitude sickness. However, the application was intentionally incorrect, so that the symptoms of altitude sickness just appeared. In at least one case, baking powder is said to have been mixed into the food, making tourists unwell.
Some mountaineers are said to have faked symptoms
According to various reports, the fraud methods were varied: On one occasion, a rescue organization is said to have billed four mountaineers who were flown out by helicopter for four separate helicopter flights – even though they were all on board just one helicopter.
In some cases, the mountaineers are also said to have participated in the fraud: If they got tired on the way back, they were said to have been suggested to fake symptoms of illness and thus get a rescue flight.
Rescues by helicopter are hardly possible at high altitudes.Image: imago
Insurance fraud worth 17 million: 32 accused
As the Kathmandu Post reported, the first cases came to light in 2018. Recently, the police have again started extensive investigations – and discovered that the fraud has now even increased.
According to reports, six suspects were arrested at the end of January and 32 people responsible were ultimately charged at the end of March. The investigators estimate the volume of the fraud now being investigated to be the equivalent of 17 million euros; there is talk of a coordinated approach involving several companies. In total, the investigators consider 300 helicopter flights billed to insurance companies to be fishy.
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