RT-Engels: 02-04-2026,
Tour guides on Himalayan treks reportedly defrauded several British and Australian insurance companies
Several tour guides in Nepal ran a fake helicopter rescue racket to defraud insurance companies in Australia and the UK, the Kathmandu Post has reported.
Investigations by the paper revealed that the guides first staged a medical emergency, called in a helicopter, and checked tourists into a hospital.
An insurance claim was then filed, which made it difficult for the foreign insurers, mostly operating from Australia and the UK, to verify incidents that purportedly happened at altitudes of 3,000 meters above sea level in remote Himalayan locations, according to the report.
The newspaper first published an investigative report in 2019 about the alleged scam. While Nepalese authorities did not immediately act on the allegations, in 2025 the Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) reopened the case and found that the practice is widespread.
Nepal charges 32 in fake rescue scam
Fake helicopter rescues and inflated hospital bills used to claim insurance payouts, investigators say.https://t.co/q9mA2YlUaZ —by @gauravpkh
— The Kathmandu Post (@kathmandupost) March 23, 2026
The CIB probe revealed two methods the guides used to fake an emergency, according to the report.
The first involved tourists who did not want to trek back down from high-altitude points. After an Everest Base Camp trek, which can take up to two weeks on foot,