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Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam (Nepal)

From BhutanWiki, the people's encyclopedia of Bhutan · diaspora · Verified

The fake Bhutanese refugee scam was a fraud in Nepal in which intermediaries collected money from Nepali citizens on the promise that they would be registered as Bhutanese refugees and resettled in the United States. Police alleged that the names of 875 non-refugees were inserted into a Home Ministry report on Bhutanese refugees left out of earlier registration, and that victims were shown the altered list and given forged refugee identity cards.[4] According to the charge sheet, 115 victims paid a combined Rs 288.17 million (~USD 1.9 million).[1] Reuters reported in 2026 that it was unclear whether any Nepali national had actually been sent to the United States through the scheme.[19]

The case became public in 2023 and led to criminal charges against a former deputy prime minister, a former home minister, a former home secretary, a former lawmaker and the Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal. On 24 May 2023 government attorneys charged 30 people at the Kathmandu District Court with offences against the state, organised crime, fraud and forgery.[1]

The court convicted 16 defendants on 7 July 2026 and sentenced them on 14 July 2026. Seven were acquitted and proceedings against eight who had not been arrested were suspended.[15] The ruling was made by a district court, and lawyers for Rayamajhi and Khand said they would appeal.[19]

Rupee amounts are converted at about Rs 150 to US$1, the rate in November 2026, and are approximate.

Background

About 113,500 Bhutanese refugees were resettled from camps in eastern Nepal to eight countries between 2007 and 2016 under the third-country resettlement programme run with UNHCR.[5] UNHCR ended the programme in December 2016.[2] Onlinekhabar put the number of registered refugees still in the camps at 6,577 in 2018.[3]

On 14 July 2019 the government of KP Sharma Oli formed a task force under Bal Krishna Panthi, then a joint secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, to study people left out of the refugee registration process. Its report was not published. Its first version reportedly recommended identity cards for 429 people.[3] The Kathmandu Post reported that the task force verified 429 applicants and rejected 875 unverified ones.[4] According to the charge sheet, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand formed a secretary-level committee on 30 September 2021 to verify the Panthi list, and its term was extended on 10 June 2022 with a mandate to add names.[2]

The scheme

Police said the racketeers removed the 429 verified names from the report and replaced them with 875 others, and that the original report disappeared from the ministry, leaving only the tampered copy.[4] Onlinekhabar reported that names were added through two annexes and that copies were handed to victims as proof. Recruitment took place in Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Dang, Gorkha, Baglung and other districts.[3] In its 2026 verdict the court found that a genuine official report had been altered and that counterfeit identity cards describing holders as Bhutanese refugees had been issued.[17]

Figures for the number of victims and the sums involved vary by source and stage of the case:

  • Suspects told police they collected Rs 1 million to Rs 5 million (~USD 6,700–33,000) per person.[5]
  • The May 2023 charge sheet listed 115 victims who paid between Rs 150,000 and Rs 4.8 million each (~USD 1,000–32,000), Rs 288.17 million in total.[2]
  • In December 2023 Onlinekhabar reported that at least 106 people had been defrauded of at least Rs 275 million (~USD 1.8 million).[12]
  • The full verdict recorded 112 complainants.[20]

Exposure and arrests

Victims complained to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority in 2021 and the case moved to the Kathmandu Valley crime division in June 2022. The Kathmandu Post reported that its sister paper Kantipur first exposed the racket in March 2023 and later published the list of 875 names.[5] Police arrested the alleged intermediaries Keshav Prasad Dulal and Sanu Bhandari on 26 March 2023.[3]

Arrests of officials followed. Indrajit Rai, security adviser to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, was arrested on 2 May 2023, and Tek Narayan Pandey, home secretary from August 2021 to September 2022, on 3 May. The same day the court issued a warrant for Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, a former deputy prime minister and CPN-UML secretary, who denied the allegations.[5] Police arrested Bal Krishna Khand, home minister from July 2021 to December 2022 and a Nepali Congress central committee member, at his Kathmandu home in May 2023; the CPN-UML suspended Rayamajhi the same week.[4] Rayamajhi was arrested in the Budhanilkantha area of Kathmandu on 14 May 2023.[6] Tek Nath Rizal was arrested at Tribhuvan International Airport on 18 May 2023.[7]

In a statement to police, Khand said he had continued a proposal begun under the previous government, denied receiving money and said that sending non-Bhutanese abroad as refugees was "completely against my principles".[9] Republica reported in May 2023 that several other politicians and relatives whose names came up in statements or leaked audio were not prosecuted; police cited a lack of evidence in at least one case.[21]

Charges

The charge sheet filed on 24 May 2023 named 30 people, 16 in custody and 14 absconding.[1] It alleged that Rayamajhi received Rs 16 million (~USD 106,000) in cash and Rs 4 million (~USD 27,000) through banks from Sanu Bhandari, and that Khand and Pandey each received Rs 12.45 million (~USD 83,000) in cash from Dulal. It also alleged that Khand sent former lawmaker Ang Tawa Sherpa to offer the return of the money if the arrested intermediaries stayed silent, and that Rizal supplied membership cards of the Bhutan Human Rights Organisation to non-Bhutanese applicants.[2] Two supplementary charge sheets followed in May and July 2024, bringing the number of accused across the three cases to 36.[16]

Court proceedings

Custody and bail

On 16 June 2023 Judge Prem Prasad Neupane ordered 16 defendants, including Rayamajhi, Khand, Pandey and Rizal, held in judicial custody during trial and released two others on bail.[10] On 1 December 2023 the Patan High Court kept eight defendants, including Rayamajhi, in custody and ordered Rizal released on Rs 1.5 million (~USD 10,000) bail.[12]

Dulal, Bhandari and Rayamajhi escaped from Central Jail on 9 September 2025, when protests set off jailbreaks at prisons across Nepal. Dulal and Bhandari were rearrested on 23 September, by which time Rayamajhi had turned himself in; Pandey and Indrajit Rai were then still at large.[13] Pandey, Rai and another defendant, Bechan Jha, returned to Central Jail Sundhara on 24 September 2025.[14]

Verdict and sentences

A single bench of Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka convicted 16 of 31 defendants on 7 July 2026, acquitted seven and held the cases of eight absconders in abeyance. The court said the acts "cannot be regarded as ordinary fraud committed by individuals".[15] It treated the scheme as an offence against the state because it damaged Nepal's credibility with the UN and third countries.[17] Sentences were announced on 14 July 2026.[16][18]

Defendant Role as reported Sentence
Top Bahadur RayamajhiFormer deputy prime minister, CPN-UML leader4 years, Rs 40,000 fine
Tek Narayan PandeyFormer home secretary4 years, Rs 40,000
Keshav Prasad DulalIntermediary, described as a principal organiser4 years, Rs 40,000
Sanu BhandariIntermediary, described as a principal organiser4 years, Rs 40,000
Indrajit RaiSecurity adviser to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa4 years, Rs 40,000, reduced because he is over 75
Ang Tawa SherpaFormer Nepali Congress lawmaker4 years, Rs 40,000
Sagar RaiFormer ward chair in Pathari Shanishchare, described as a principal organiser4 years, Rs 40,000
Sandesh Sharma, Govinda Kumar ChaudharyNot described4 years, Rs 40,000 each
Bal Krishna KhandFormer home minister2 years, Rs 20,000
Tek Nath RizalBhutanese refugee leader2 years, Rs 20,000
Narendra KCPrivate secretary to Khand1 year, Rs 10,000
Shamsher MiyaThen chair of the Haj Committee1 year, Rs 10,000
Hari Bhakta MaharjanDescribed as a middleman1 year, Rs 10,000
Niranjan Kumar KharelNot described1 year, Rs 10,000
Bechan JhaDescribed as a middleman1 year, Rs 10,000, for attempted fraud

Fines of Rs 40,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 are about USD 270, 130 and 70. According to the full verdict, only Dulal, Bhandari and Rizal were convicted of forgery, because the evidence did not establish who forged the report. Rayamajhi, Pandey and Khand were acquitted of forgery. Pandey was convicted of fraud, organised crime and offences against the state, Khand as an accomplice to those offences. A forensic examination of Khand's phone found no direct link to the forgery.[20]

The seven acquitted were Sandeep Rayamajhi (Top Bahadur Rayamajhi's son), Ram Sharan KC, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Pratik Thapa (Ram Bahadur Thapa's son), Laxmi Maharjan, Keshav Tuladhar and Ashish Budhathoki.[15] The court found that Ram Sharan KC had himself been defrauded by Dulal and Bhandari.[20]

Compensation

The full text of the verdict, published in October 2026, fixed recovery at Rs 153.797 million (~USD 1.02 million) for 59 of the 112 complainants. It rejected 53 claims; 43 of those complainants had neither given statements nor testified. The largest individual liability, Rs 74.7 million (~USD 497,000) owed to 38 people, fell on Sandesh Sharma. Rayamajhi was ordered to repay Rs 4 million (~USD 27,000). Khand, Pandey and Rizal had no repayment liability.[20]

Appeals

Rayamajhi's lawyer, Dharma Raj Regmi, told Reuters his client was "never involved in policy-making for the refugees", and Khand's lawyer, Pankaj Karna, said Khand would challenge the verdict. Reuters reported that Khand was on bail at the time of sentencing and Rayamajhi in custody.[19]

Tek Nath Rizal

An investigating officer told Onlinekhabar that another accused said Rizal had been paid Rs 1 million (~USD 6,700); Rizal said he had borrowed Rs 700,000 (~USD 4,700) from Sagar Rai and repaid it. Senior Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki said it seemed Rizal "was used by this gang through Sagar Rai".[8] The Nepali Times reported in June 2023 that Rizal admitted signing some papers at Rayamajhi's request, and quoted him as saying, "These are the crooks who have insulted us Bhutanese refugees". The paper's editorial argued that the organisers had used Rizal's credibility.[11] He was convicted of forgery and as an accomplice in fraud, organised crime and offences against the state.[20]

Effect on Bhutanese refugees

On 16 May 2023 the Bhutanese Refugees Repatriation Representative Committee, in a statement issued by acting president Tilak Rai, called for an independent investigation. It said the scandal had "raised serious doubts regarding non-Bhutanese being made Bhutanese". It also said refugees had not received new identity cards more than eight months after their cards were renewed, and asked that the interests of about 6,500 refugees be protected by registering them.[22]

See also

References

  1. "Fake Bhutanese refugee scam: Cases against 30 individuals filed in district court." Kathmandu Post, 24 May 2023.
  2. "Rayamajhi kingpin, Khand tried to return bribe: Charge sheet." Kathmandu Post, 25 May 2023.
  3. Gaurav Pokharel, "Fake Bhutanese refugee case explained." Onlinekhabar English, 4 May 2023.
  4. "Pressure mounts on the government to get to the bottom of fake refugee scam." Kathmandu Post, 11 May 2023.
  5. "Ex-minister, sitting officials implicated in refugee scam." Kathmandu Post, 4 May 2023.
  6. "UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi arrested over Bhutanese refugee scam." The Himalayan Times, 14 May 2023.
  7. "Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rijal arrested in connection with refugee scam." Kathmandu Post, 18 May 2023.
  8. Gaurav Pokharel, "Tek Nath Rizal's role in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam." Onlinekhabar English, 26 May 2023.
  9. "I only gave continuity to previous govt's proposal, claims Khand in statement." Himal Press, 24 May 2023.
  10. "Bhutanese refugee scam: Kathmandu court sends 16 including former ministers to jail as case continues." Kathmandu Post, 16 June 2023.
  11. "The tragedy of Tek Nath Rizal" (editorial). Nepali Times, 20 June 2023.
  12. "Fake Bhutanese refugee scam: Patan High Court orders 8 including Top Bahadur Rayamajhi to remain in custody." Onlinekhabar English, 1 December 2023.
  13. "Two jailbreak fugitives in refugee scam arrested; Top Bahadur Rayamajhi returns." Kathmandu Post, 23 September 2025.
  14. "Three accused in fake Bhutan refugee case returned to Central Jail." Kantipur (English edition), 24 September 2025.
  15. "Court convicts Rayamajhi, Khand and 14 others in Bhutanese refugee scam." Kathmandu Post, 8 July 2026.
  16. "Rayamajhi gets four years in prison, Khand two in fake Bhutanese refugee scam." Kathmandu Post, 15 July 2026.
  17. "Former Nepal Deputy PM, Home Minister, Home Secretary and others convicted in fake Bhutanese refugee scam." The Bhutanese, 18 July 2026.
  18. "Fake Bhutanese refugee case: Top Bahadur, Balkrishna including 15 others sentenced to prison." Ratopati English, 14 July 2026.
  19. "Nepal refugee scam: Former ministers Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Bal Krishna Khand jailed" (Reuters report). Outlook India, 15 July 2026.
  20. "Bhutanese refugee scam victims awarded Rs 153.8 million, but 53 complainants get no compensation." Kathmandu Post, 12 October 2026.
  21. "The high-profiles who appeared on the investigation radar but were not prosecuted." Republica, May 2023.
  22. "BRRC demands fair probe into fake Bhutanese refugee scam." Khabarhub, 16 May 2023.

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