KATHMANDU, July 8: The Kathmandu District Court has convicted former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, and former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, along with 20 others, in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.
A bench of Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka on Tuesday found a total of 23 defendants guilty of offenses ranging from fraud and forgery to organized crime and crimes against the state. The case involved sending non-Bhutanese individuals to the United States and other countries for third-country resettlement by falsely verifying them as Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal. The court will announce sentencing on July 13, according to District Court Information Officer Shiva Khatiwada.
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The government prosecutor had filed charges against 30 people. Of them, seven—including Sanjeev Rayamajhi, son of Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and Prateek Thapa, son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’—were acquitted. Others acquitted include Ram Sharan KC, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Laxmi Maharjan, Keshav Tuladhar, and Ashish Budhathoki.
Bhutanese refugee leader Teknath Rijal was convicted of forging government documents and serving as an accomplice in fraud, organized crime, and crimes against the state. Similarly, Sanu Bhandari and Keshav Dulal—identified as key planners—were found guilty of fraud, forgery, organized crime, and crimes against the state.
The verdict marks one of the most high-profile convictions in recent years, underscoring the judiciary’s stance against organized scams that undermine Nepal’s refugee management system.
