- The Kathmandu District Court convicted 23 individuals, including former high-ranking ministers, for their involvement in the high-profile fake Bhutanese refugee scam.
- Seven defendants were acquitted due to insufficient evidence, while cases against eight absconding individuals remain on hold pending their apprehension.
- The convicts faced charges of fraud, forgery, and organized crime for falsely promising US resettlement to Nepali citizens under fake identities.
- The court will convene on July 13, 2026, to determine specific prison sentences and financial penalties for all convicted parties.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday delivered a landmark verdict in the high-profile fake Bhutanese refugee scam, convicting 23 high-profile individuals—including former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand—while acquitting seven others due to insufficient evidence.
The decision, handed down by a bench led by Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka, follows a lengthy trial that began after the Government Attorney’s Office filed charges against 30 individuals on May 24, 2023. The defendants faced a multi-layered indictment encompassing fraud, government document forgery, offenses against the state, and organized crime.
The court has scheduled a separate hearing for July 13, 2026, to determine the prison sentences and financial penalties for those convicted.
Political Leaders and Top Officials Convicted
Former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi was found guilty of offenses against the state, fraud, and organized crime. The court ruled that Rayamajhi participated actively at both the policy and planning levels, directly facilitating the criminal network's operations.
Former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand was convicted as an accomplice to fraud, organized crime, and offenses against the state. While prosecutors did not establish direct financial transactions tying Khand to the ring, the court found he exercised undue influence by officially extending the tenure of a high-level government task force to aid the scam.
The court also handed down convictions for offenses against the state, organized crime, and fraud to former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and Dr. Indrajit Rai, the security advisor to the former Home Minister.
Severe Penalties for Ringleaders and Document Forgers
The court identified Keshav Prasad Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, and Ang Tawa Sherpa as the primary architects of the racket. The bench concluded that the four individuals collected massive sums of money from Nepali citizens by falsely promising them resettlement in the United States under the guise of Bhutanese refugees. For damaging Nepal's international standing, they were also found guilty of offenses against the state and integrated criminal offenses.
Furthermore, Dulal and Bhandari were convicted of forgery for creating a fraudulent version of the "Bal Krishna Panthi Task Force" report and fabricating counterfeit refugee identity cards. Sagar Rai and Ang Tawa Sherpa were acquitted of the forgery component of the indictment.
Coordinators Sandesh Sharma and Govinda Kumar Chaudhary (alias Bikram) were convicted of fraud, organized crime, and state offenses for running the operational logistics of the fraud ring.
Prominent Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal was convicted as a principal offender in document forgery for signing and validating the fake refugee identity cards, and as an accomplice in the fraud and organized crime charges.
Other public figures convicted as accomplices included:
Narendra KC, for leaking confidential Ministry of Home Affairs data.
Shamsher Miya, for providing government vehicles to transport members of the ring.
Hari Bhakta Maharjan, for providing family and cooperative bank accounts to launder funds.
Niranjan Kumar Kharel, for managing biometric processing and physical cash logistics.
Additionally, defendant Bechan Jha was convicted of attempted fraud after attempting to cash an insufficient-funds check worth NPR 20 million from co-defendant Ram Sharan KC.
Seven Acquitted on Lack of Objective Evidence
The court ordered the acquittal of seven defendants after reviewing financial records and witness testimonies:
Sandeep Rayamajhi (son of Top Bahadur Rayamajhi) was cleared of a suspicious NPR 4 million bank transfer after court records proved the transaction stemmed from a documented, legitimate business partnership dating back to 2017.
Pratik Thapa (son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa) was acquitted after the primary complainant completely retracted his statements during cross-examination.
Ram Sharan KC was deemed by the court to be a victim of the scheme rather than a perpetrator, having raised funds under the false pretenses given to him by Tek Nath Rizal.
Tanka Kumar Gurung, a restaurateur, was acquitted after the court ruled that merely hosting the defendants' meetings at his commercial establishment did not constitute criminal conspiracy.
Laxmi Maharjan, Keshav Tuladhar, and Ashish Budhathoki were all acquitted after financial audits proved their bank accounts had been used by main perpetrators without their direct knowledge or complicity.
Next Steps and Sentencing
The court announced that the trials of eight remaining absconding defendants—including Ashok Pokharel, Dhiren Rai, and Niraj Rai—have been placed on hold (Multhabi) until they are apprehended or present themselves to the judiciary.
The specific terms of imprisonment and fine amounts for the 23 convicted individuals will be formally announced during the upcoming sentencing layout on July 13, 2026. Legal analysts view the verdict as a historic precedent in Nepal’s judicial history, marking the first time a court has dismantled a highly coordinated criminal enterprise bridging top-tier political leadership, bureaucracy, and underworld middlemen.
