Nepalese officials and a Chinese company are accused of embezzling $74 million from the construction of the Pokhara airport.
Nepal's top anti-corruption agency has filed corruption charges against 55 senior officials – including five former ministers – and a Chinese company, accusing them of embezzling millions of dollars during the construction of Pokhara International Airport, a major project under Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road initiative.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) alleged in a chargesheet filed Sunday that Nepalese officials and Chinese contractor China CAMC Engineering conspired to inflate costs, violate public procurement laws, and degrade construction quality. The agency alleges the group misappropriated 8.36 billion Nepalese rupees ($74.34 million), increasing the airport's approved cost from $145 million to $215.95 million “with malicious intent.”
The airport was financed with a $215.96 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and opened in January 2023. A Nepalese consulting firm estimated the project could be completed for $145 million, but the cost was increased during bilateral negotiations between Nepalese officials and the Chinese contractor, according to the indictment. The anti-corruption agency also noted that only Chinese companies were allowed to participate in the tender, which violates Nepal's public procurement law.
“They abnormally inflated the estimate and made excessive payments,” the document says.
The accused include former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat and four former tourism ministers—the late Post Bahadur Bogati, Bhim Prasad Acharya, Deepak Chandra Amatya, and Ram Kumar Shrestha. Mahat, an influential figure in the Nepali Congress, served as finance minister several times.
Bogati, a former Maoist rebel, was a close aide of former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and served as the party's main thorn in parliament after the end of the decade-long Maoist insurgency.
Acharya, secretary of the Nepal Communist Party under recently ousted Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, was preparing to run for the post of vice-chairman of the party at its 10th congress scheduled for December 13.
Retired state secretary Ram Kumar Shrestha was appointed tourism minister in the 2013 election government after the First Constituent Authority was dissolved without finalising a constitution.
Charges have also been brought against ten retired state secretaries and Nepal's civil aviation chief, Pradeep Adhikari, who was arrested several days ago in a separate corruption case. A separate trial is underway in a special court. The remaining defendants were not in custody at the time the case was filed.
The airport, promoted as a regional hub, has struggled since its opening. Built without a detailed business plan, it was effectively limited to domestic flights. International airlines are refusing to fly there, citing safety concerns and low passenger demand.
The political scandal intensified after the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee uncovered widespread irregularities and reported the illegal use of billions of rupees. The committee forwarded its findings to the anti-corruption agency, urging the prosecutor's office to open an investigation.
Generation Z protest organizers, who have been protesting against corruption for months, welcomed the latest actions. “This is truly exciting news for us. We expect many more such actions,” said movement leader Pradeep Gyawali. “We would like to see more of these actions.”
Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal stated that the government is committed to taking action against corruption “in the spirit of the Generation Z movement,” even as it prepares for the elections. “The government is working hard to fulfill the expectations of the younger generation—to ensure good governance by ending corruption,” he said at a public event in Kathmandu.
