Nepal Refugee Scam: Former Ministers Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Bal Krishna Khand Jailed

 The Kathmandu district court jailed former Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi for four years and former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand for two years on July 14, 2026. They were convicted of forging documents to resettle Nepali nationals in the US as fake Bhutanese refugees, Reuters reported.

"A court in Nepal jailed two former government Ministers after they were found guilty of forging documents to enable Nepali nationals to be resettled in the U.S. as Bhutanese refugees," a court document and lawyers told Reuters on Wednesday.

The court document showed that 14 other individuals also received prison terms of up to four years. Those sentenced included a former Bhutanese refugee leader and a former senior bureaucrat from the Home Ministry.

Defence Plans Appeals

Rayamajhi remains in custody following his conviction for fraud, organised crime and state offences. The court handed Khand, who is currently out on bail, a two-year sentence for his role as an accomplice. Neither politician could be reached for comment, though both previously rejected the allegations, Reuters reported.

The scam was uncovered in 2023 after both men had already left government.

Defence lawyers confirmed both clients will appeal the verdicts. Rayamajhi was "never involved in policy-making for the refugees", his lawyer Dharma Raj Regmi told Reuters. Pankaj Karna, representing Khand, also confirmed his client plans to appeal.

Refugee Crisis Context

More than 1.2 lakh Bhutanese citizens of Nepali descent escaped to Nepal starting in the early 1990s. They sought greater political liberties in Bhutan, a Buddhist-majority nation with a population under eight lakh. After bilateral repatriation talks failed, a third-country resettlement initiative relocated nearly 1.13 lakh of these individuals to Western nations, including the US, Canada and Australia.

Washington has taken about one lakh refugees from Nepal. Several thousand are still living in camps in eastern Nepal, saying they want to return to Bhutan. It remains unclear if any Nepali nationals were sent to the US as fake Bhutanese refugees.

Anti Corruption Drive

The convictions follow intense political shifts in the country. In September 2025, youth-led anti-corruption protests resulted in 76 deaths and triggered the collapse of the previous government.

A new Gen Z-backed government headed by former rapper turned politician Balendra Shah was elected in March 2026. Shah has pledged a sweeping crackdown on alleged corruption under previous administrations.