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Mount Everest guides allegedly ‘poisoned’ climbers as part of sinister $20M scam
Mount Everest guides have allegedly been secretly lacing tourists’ food to trigger costly helicopter rescues as part of a $20 million insurance scam, according to a new investigation.
Police in Nepal have charged 32 individuals with organized crime and fraud charges related to the plot, which involves trekking company owners, helicopter operators, and hospital executives, the Kathmandu Post reported.
Guides with the trekking agencies allegedly poisoned tourists by putting baking soda in their food to trigger severe gastrointestinal distress that mimicked altitude sickness or food poisoning, investigators said.
Once ill, the visitors were allegedly pressured into agreeing to costly emergency helicopter evacuations, with operators using forged medical and flight documents to bill international travel insurers for the cost, according to authorities in the Himalayan country.
Those ill-gotten gains were then allegedly split among the guides, helicopter companies, trekking agencies, and the hospitals where the tourists were taken for fake treatments.
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