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Staged rescues and fraudulent hospital admissions are at the centre of a $20-million insurance scandal surrounding the world’s most prominent, and notorious, mountain-climbing destination.

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This week, officials in Nepal arrested 10 people in connection with the scam centred around Mount Everest, alleging the accused staged rescues and hospital admissions to defraud millions from international insurance companies.

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In addition, 32 Mount Everest guides also found themselves in police custody with investigators discovering that nearly 5,000 climbers from around the world had either participated in or fallen victim to the scams between 2022 and 2025.

Reports by NBC News, quoting Nepalese officials, said scammers allegedly targeted people suffering from ill effects of the gruelling, sometimes fatal climb —  including convincing those suffering from simple altitude sickness that their condition was much more dire and convincing them to partake in expensive helicopter rescues.

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Alleged scam uncovered in 2018

As well, some scammers incorrectly advised some ailing trekkers to increase their water intake or to consume baking soda, both of which exacerbated symptoms — or even convinced exhausted climbers to allegedly fake illnesses in exchange for a helicopter rescue to local hospitals in nearby Kathmandu.

The alleged scam was first uncovered by the Kathmandu Post in 2018, triggering government reforms.

Despite that action, the Nepal police central investigation bureau discovered the scam didn’t go away, but allegedly grew in scope.

Once admitted to a hospital, insurance claims allegedly bearing little resemblance to the actual incident were filed with foreign insurance companies, relying on a complex network of insiders and accomplices to ensure the claims were paid out.

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In one case, the Kathmandu Post reported that a staff member of a hospital submitted an X-ray of himself taken a year earlier to support one of the fraudulent claims.

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2023 deadliest year on record

A popular destination for adventure-seekers, Mount Everest is a notoriously difficult climb — with its unpredictable weather and high altitude claiming numerous lives every year.

Only five lives were lost in the 2025 climbing season, one of the least deadliest on record, despite higher-than-normal climbers last year.

However, 2023 saw a record-breaking 18 deaths on the mountain followed by eight in 2024.

According to the Kathmandu Post, one case saw four foreign climbers airlifted at once on a single flight, but they were billed to insurance carriers as four separate rescue missions — racking up a rescue tab of over $31,000 and a nearly $12,000 hospital bill.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com

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