Terrifying Organized Fraud Targeting Former Gurkha Soldiers

‘Former Gurkhas Are Being Turned Into Accused Persons’

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Nayapage

2026-08-28 15:54

Kathmandu: Former Gurkha soldier Bhagat Kumar Rai is pursuing a second career in Britain. One day, Ajay Gautam, a Nepali living in Britain, visited Rai’s home while promoting a remittance service.

Gautam reportedly told Rai that he could easily arrange for money to be deposited into a bank account in Nepal. Rai, originally from Khotang, trusted him. On October 4, 2024 (18 Ashwin 2081 BS), Rai handed Gautam British pounds equivalent to NPR 511,500, intending to send the money to Nepal for household expenses.

After receiving the money, Gautam’s representative in Nepal, Raj Kumar Sharma Bhandari, deposited NPR 511,500 through Nabil Bank into the accounts of Bhagat Kumar Rai and Sabitri Rai at Gurkhas Finance Limited.

What appeared to be a routine family remittance later became the source of a serious legal problem for Rai. According to documents and claims made by Rai’s relatives, Samikshya Gauchan, who is described as a relative of Gautam, later filed a complaint with the Department of Foreign Employment in Tahachal, Kathmandu. The complaint allegedly claimed that she had given money to Raj Kumar Sharma Bhandari for the purpose of travelling to Britain.

A complaint filed alleging that those who provided the money were fraudsters.

The complaint subsequently resulted in legal action involving Bhagat Kumar Rai and Sabitri Rai. ‘I Sent Money to Nepal, but Ended Up as an Accused’ Rai sent the money to Nepal in 2024. However, when he learned in 2026 that a complaint had been filed against him in Nepal, he was shocked.

He has not been able to return to Nepal since learning about the case, according to his relatives.

Believing that he had become the victim of an organized fraud scheme, Rai, through his relatives, filed complaints with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office’s Hello Sarkar grievance mechanism.

His relatives also approached the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), alleging that government mechanisms may have been misused in the case.

According to Rai’s relatives, Gauchan filed a complaint against Ajay Gautam with the Department of Foreign Employment after the money had been deposited into the Nepalese bank account.

Gautam, meanwhile, has reportedly claimed that he received money from people in Britain and arranged for it to be deposited in Nepal through Raj Kumar Sharma Bhandari. He says the money was deposited into the accounts of Bhagat Kumar Rai, Sabitri Rai, Salita Gurung and more than a dozen others.

The victims allege that this arrangement is being used to create foreign-employment fraud cases against people who merely received money sent from Britain.

They have called for an investigation into the roles of Gautam, Sharma Bhandari and Gauchan.

According to the victims, a detailed investigation into the individuals involved could uncover a much larger network of similar cases.

A Similar Case Involving 86-Year-Old Khagi Gurung

The case of 86-year-old Khagi Gurung follows a similar pattern, according to her family.

Gurung has lived in Britain for nearly two decades. After recovering from cancer, she returned to Britain following medical treatment in Nepal.

She later decided to send NPR 500,000 to her sons in Nepal.

Instead of using a formal banking channel, she sent the money through Yogendra Bahadur Saud, a Nepali living in Britain, using the informal hundi system.

According to her family, Saud received the money in Britain and arranged for his contact in Nepal, Binod Budhathoki, to deposit it into the bank account of Gurung’s son, Chet Bahadur Gurung.

The NPR 500,000 that an elderly mother intended to send to her son subsequently became the basis of a legal dispute.

According to the family, a complaint was filed against Chet Bahadur alleging that he had taken money from an individual on the promise of arranging foreign employment but had failed to fulfil that promise.

The family denies the allegation, maintaining that the money deposited into Chet Bahadur’s account had been sent by his mother for family purposes.

Gautam, who is based in the UK, left this very ID card with Rai.

‘Former Gurkhas Are Being Turned Into Accused Persons’

Victims allege that former Gurkha soldiers and their families are increasingly being caught in legal cases arising from money transfers from Britain to Nepal.

They claim that once such complaints are filed, officials at the Department of Foreign Employment and the police move quickly against the recipients of the money. According to the victims, the alleged pattern begins with money being collected from Gurkhas or Nepalis living abroad. The money is then deposited into bank accounts in Nepal through intermediaries.

The recipient is subsequently accused of taking money in connection with a promise of foreign employment. Victims say this creates enormous financial and psychological pressure, even when the original transaction was intended as a family remittance.

‘They Were Imprisoned Despite Committing No Crime’

The problem, according to victims, extends far beyond the cases of Bhagat Kumar Rai and Khagi Gurung’s family. They claim that hundreds of former Gurkha soldiers have encountered similar problems and that some have been arrested and imprisoned.

Former Gurkha Major Dibes Rai was reportedly arrested in a similar case. According to his relatives, he eventually paid NPR 4 million to secure his release and end the ordeal.

‘It is frightening that even a respected former Gurkha Major could be systematically trapped and forced into a prolonged legal battle,’ one of his relatives said. Former Gurkha soldier Ait Singh Tamang is also reportedly facing a similar problem.

Victims Turn to Parliament

House of Representatives member Rajendra Rai says many people affected by such cases have approached him. Rai’s father is also a former Gurkha soldier. He said preparations were underway to form a group of lawmakers to brief the Home Minister and Prime Minister about the issue.

According to Rai, there are indications that government mechanisms may have been abused to cause severe financial and psychological harm to former Gurkha soldiers.

‘There appears to be organized involvement of officials at the Department of Foreign Employment and members of the police,’ he said.

Another lawmaker, Dhruvraj Rai, said he had received complaints concerning what he described as a form of ‘double fraud’ targeting former Gurkha soldiers and Nepalis living in Britain and Hong Kong.

‘This is a very dangerous form of fraud. Initially, they offer attractive remittance arrangements and collect money in Britain. The money is then deposited into bank accounts in Nepal through their agents. The same deposits are later used to file complaints alleging that the recipients defrauded people by promising them foreign employment,’ he said.

According to Rai, several retired Gurkha majors have spent extended periods in detention in similar cases and had to pay millions of rupees to resolve the legal problems.

Questions Over the Use of Government Institutions

Raj Kumar Rai, a relative of Bhagat Kumar Rai, has demanded an investigation into Ajay Gautam, Raj Kumar Sharma Bhandari and Samikshya Gautam/Gauchan, as well as officials associated with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and the Department of Foreign Employment in Tahachal.

According to Rai’s relatives, the complaint submitted through Hello Sarkar was forwarded to the relevant ministry and department.

They have also filed a complaint with the CIAA and are seeking an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the case. The relatives are also seeking an appointment with Home Minister Sudhan Gurung to brief him on what they describe as a wider network targeting former Gurkha soldiers.

Official Correspondence Raises Further Questions

Correspondence between government agencies and individuals involved in the cases has raised further questions, according to the victims.

They say the documents show that complaints were processed through government institutions, although the underlying transactions are disputed.

The victims are calling for the relevant correspondence, bank transactions and complaints to be examined together to determine whether the cases genuinely involve foreign-employment fraud or whether legitimate remittances have been given a different interpretation.

‘Abuse of the Government Machinery’

A senior CIAA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were indications that organized groups involving government employees and police could be operating in connection with some of these cases.

According to the official, there have been cases in which former Gurkha soldiers returning to Nepal from Britain were arrested at the airport immediately after arrival.

Victims allege that some of those arrested were subsequently pressured to arrange large sums of money in order to secure their release.

Lawmakers have called for the Home Ministry and the CIAA to investigate such cases, including incidents from previous years.

The victims also raise a critical question: How do those behind the complaints know when a former Gurkha is returning to Nepal?

‘They know when a Gurkha is coming to Nepal. It appears that there is an organized network extending from the Department to the airport,’ one victim said.

The allegations, if substantiated, would point to a serious abuse of government institutions and a systematic targeting of former Gurkha soldiers.

The victims are therefore demanding an impartial investigation into whether legitimate money sent by former Gurkha soldiers to their families is being deliberately used to construct foreign-employment fraud cases against them.

They argue that every case should be examined on the basis of documentary evidence, including bank records, the purpose of the original transaction, the identity of the sender and recipient, and the circumstances in which the complaint was filed.

They also want investigators to examine the roles of the people who collected money in Britain, those who deposited it in Nepal, the complainants and any government officials or police officers whose actions may have facilitated the alleged scheme.

For former Gurkha soldiers who have spent decades serving abroad, the issue is no longer simply about individual financial disputes. They say it has become a question of whether the very institutions meant to protect them are being used against them.