In a major anti-corruption ruling, the Kathmandu District Court has sentenced two former Nepalese cabinet ministers and 14 others to prison for their roles in a highly publicized scam involving forged documents to resettle Nepali citizens in the United States under the guise of being Bhutanese refugees.
The court handed a four-year prison sentence to former Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi. Rayamajhi was convicted of severe charges, including fraud, organized crime, and crimes against the state. Additionally, former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand was sentenced to two years in prison as an accomplice to the conspiracy. Alongside the high-profile politicians, 14 other individuals—including a former senior home ministry official and a prominent Bhutanese refugee leader—received sentences of up to four years.
The extensive fraud, which originally came to light in 2023, involved a political-bureaucratic syndicate that swindled hundreds of Nepali citizens. Victims were charged millions of rupees for fabricated documents falsely claiming they were part of the major third-country resettlement program designed for displaced Bhutanese refugees. In its ruling, the court strongly condemned the operation, stating that the scam constituted a crime against the state and severely damaged Nepal’s international reputation. Defense lawyers for both former ministers have maintained their clients’ innocence and announced plans to appeal the verdicts.