Foreign Ministry Joint Secretary arrested over alleged fake travel document scam

Kathmandu, August 3

Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has arrested Pushparaj Bhattarai, a Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and produced him before the Kathmandu District Court.

The arrest comes a week after the CIB filed a case accusing him of attempting to send Tibetan refugees to Germany using forged travel documents.

Bhattarai will record his statement before the court, which will then decide whether to remand him in custody pending further proceedings.

Allegations stem from a 17-year-old case

According to the charge sheet filed by the CIB at the Kathmandu District Court, Bhattarai was posted at the Passport Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2008 and 2009 (2065–2066 BS). During that period, he received 500 blank travel documents for official issuance.

Investigators allege that instead of issuing the documents to legitimate applicants, three Tibetans were falsely identified as refugees and provided travel documents in an attempt to facilitate their travel to Germany.

The investigation began after the German Embassy in Kathmandu wrote to the CIB on July 13, 2011 (28 Asar 2068 BS), requesting an inquiry into five suspicious individuals. The embassy reported that travel documents issued in 2009 in the names of Tenzing Namgyal Chungotsang, Tenzing Tendar Chungsung, and three others appeared to be fraudulent. Police subsequently launched an investigation based on those documents.

According to the statement of Bachhuram KC, the official responsible for record-keeping at the Passport Division in 2008, branch officer Ram Prasad Subedi was responsible for endorsing and certifying passports and travel documents through official signatures.

KC told investigators that although he prepared all the documents, they bore the signature of branch officer Ram Prasad Subedi. Subedi, now also a Joint Secretary, is currently serving as Nepal’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

Bhattarai, who served in various positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before being promoted to Joint Secretary in 2081 BS, most recently headed the ministry’s Labour Migration and Nepali Diaspora Coordination Division.

Documents allegedly misused

Investigators say Bhattarai reported that several travel documents had been sent to the Nepali Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. However, subsequent verification found that the documents had never been dispatched there.

The CIB alleges that those same documents were instead misused to facilitate the travel of Tibetan refugees.

During questioning, Bhattarai acknowledged that he and branch officer Ram Prasad Subedi were responsible for issuing travel documents. However, he denied any involvement in the alleged fraud, claiming, “Someone must have imitated and misused my signature.”

The investigation found that several people of Tibetan origin who had entered Nepal from India were issued travel documents through improper procedures. They allegedly attempted to travel to Germany under the guise of Tibetan refugees seeking family reunification. German authorities later determined that their documents were fraudulent and returned them to Nepal.

According to correspondence from the German Embassy, each individual allegedly paid Rs 400,000 to obtain the travel documents and an additional Rs 400,000 to ensure clearance during departure from Tribhuvan International Airport.

Lack of official records

The CIB has alleged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the travel documents on June 9, 2011 (26 Asar 2068 BS) without maintaining any supporting documents or applicant records.

Although ministry officials claimed the documents were issued based on applications forwarded with recommendations from the Home Ministry, investigators found no such records in the ministry’s archives.

In Nepal, the Home Ministry normally recommends travel documents for refugees based on supporting documentation. However, the CIB argues that because the required applications were missing from the Foreign Ministry’s records, the travel documents were not issued in accordance with the law.

The bureau further claims that documents ostensibly issued for use in Cairo were instead diverted to send Tibetan refugees to Germany.

Investigators also found inconsistencies in the applicants’ addresses. The refugees listed Boudha, Kathmandu, as their residence, despite there being no Tibetan refugee camp in Boudha. The Office of Tibetan Refugee Camps had earlier informed authorities that it could not verify the applicants’ details for that reason.

Legal action

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has filed the case under Nepal’s Passport Act, 2019 (2076 BS). Under Section 21(a) of the Act, anyone found guilty may face a fine of between Rs 200,000 and Rs 500,000, imprisonment for one to three years, or both.

The case had also been reported to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), which requested documents and exchanged correspondence with the CIB during its own inquiry.

According to the charge sheet, the CIAA is also investigating allegations that bribes were exchanged in the issuance of the fraudulent travel documents.

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