Nepal Uncovers Everest Insurance Fraud Scheme

Nepalese authorities have uncovered a sophisticated insurance fraud scheme targeting foreign climbers on Mount Everest trekking routes, alleging that guides and accomplices deliberately induced illnesses to orchestrate unnecessary helicopter evacuations and inflate medical claims. The operation, which spanned from 2022 to 2025, involved more than 300 fraudulent rescues and resulted in payouts totaling between 15 million and 20 million from international insurers, police said.

Investigators detailed how participants in the scheme, including trekking guides, helicopter operators, and medical personnel, contaminated climbers' food with baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. Ingested in large amounts, the substance raises blood pH levels, causing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, and shortness of breath that closely mimic altitude sickness, a potentially deadly condition at high elevations. Affected trekkers, often during challenging sections of the route, were then convinced to undergo emergency airlifts, which guides portrayed as essential for survival.

Once evacuated, climbers were taken to cooperating clinics and hospitals, where staff allegedly exaggerated...