3 arrested for making fake expedition permission letter

Oct 4, 2018:
Three staffers of Seven Summit Trek Pvt. Ltd have been arrested for their alleged involvement in making a fake expedition permission letter.

A team deployed from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police apprehended legal department Chief of Seven Summit NiveshKarki, marketing Chief Phurtenji Sherpa and accountant BijayshworAryal.

According to CIB, the staffers of Seven Summit had taken permission in the name of 12 persons from the Tourism Board to scale Mount Everest.The trekking agency had taken permission in the name of eight Chinese, two Indians, one Spanish and one British citizen.They had taken permission by paying US$11,000 each to scale the Mount Everest.

After receiving the letter, the staffers had made letter head and stamp similar to that of the Tourism Board. Later, they made fake permission letter for a Chinese and an Australian citizen.

The CIB said that the three staffers had charged USD 22,000 for adding their names in the list without informing the Tourism Board.

After making the fake permission letter, a group of 14 persons had left for Mount Everest on April 13, 2018.

They handed over the letter received from Tourism Board to Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee Office at the Base Camp and headed towards the Mount Everest.

Among the 14 persons, 13 had successfully climbed the Mount Everest while one, whose name was added in the list later, failed, according to the CIB.

The incident came to light after the letter they produced at Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee Office and the one which they had received from the Tourism Board turned out to be different.

The Seven Summit Trek Chairman Mingma Sherpa said the staffers have committed the fraud and they should be punished.

Police are looking into the case.

Source: ekantipur.com