Everest guides drugged climbers, victimizing 4,800 people in a scam to fraudulently claim $20 million in insurance.
On 7 Apr 2026 GMT+7, Nepal was shaken as the Central Investigation Bureau uncovered the largest insurance fraud in mountaineering history. Everest guides secretly added substances to tourists’ food to fake altitude sickness symptoms, forcing them to take rescue helicopters and defrauding foreign insurance companies of more than $20 million, approximately 600 million baht. Nearly 4,800 victims were affected over three years.
Nepal’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) revealed that the scam targeted about 4,782 foreign climbers from 2022 to 2025, with over 300 cases of fake rescues uncovered. Authorities arrested 11 suspects and filed charges against 32 individuals.
In one case, unscrupulous guides covertly added baking powder to tourists’ food to mimic altitude sickness symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness—symptoms typical above 10,000 feet.
Another tactic involved forcing climbers to take excessive amounts of Acetazolamide (a medication for altitude sickness) along with large quantities of water to worsen their condition.
When tourists began showing symptoms, guides threatened, "If you don’t urgently seek help, you will die," coercing victims to board rescue helicopters. Some climbers were even persuaded to fake illness to get a quicker helicopter ride down instead of walking.
Companies used fake medical certificates and flight logs to claim insurance money. Although helicopters carried multiple passengers simultaneously, each was billed as if flown individually.
Upon reaching hospitals, medical staff issued fake treatment summaries, listing doctors not involved and sometimes documenting treatments the patients never received.
This extensive scam network involved Sherpas, tour company owners, helicopter operators, and hospital executives.