In Nepal, a passport is supposed to open borders. It has mostly just opened a resounding court file. As police arrested a former finance minister in a money-laundering case, the anti-corruption body launched proceedings in an e-passport scandal valued at around $66 million.
A former treasurer behind bars
According to The Manila Times, Nepalese police reportedly arrested a former finance minister, Bishnu Paudel, in a money-laundering case. It would be the latest case targeting a senior official since the anti-corruption uprising that, in September 2025, toppled the government of KP Sharma Oli — the party of which Bishnu Paudel is said to be one of the vice-presidents.
The arrest would be part of a wave of cases against officials of the former administration, against a backdrop of popular demand for transparency born of the 2025 protests.
The e-passport contract
In parallel, according to The Kathmandu Post, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) reportedly filed charges against eighteen people — including the head of the passport department — over a biometric passport contract. The loss to the state is estimated at around 10.13 billion rupees, close to $66 million.
Those named would include ten government officials, two German companies — Muehlbauer ID Services and Veridos GmbH, tasked with printing the passports — as well as local executives and agents. Investigators are said to suspect manipulation of the contract's technical and financial assessments.
A document meant to prove your identity to the whole world, whose contract mostly seems to have blurred that of a few signatures.
Two files, one mistrust
Money laundering on one side, a suspect public contract on the other: the two cases feed the same climate of distrust towards Nepal's former ruling class. They come as the country seeks to turn the page on a system deemed opaque.
Magouilles & Compagnie verdict
The people and companies named enjoy the presumption of innocence, and Nepalese justice will have to establish responsibilities. But the irony remains: in a country where getting a passport can be an obstacle course, it is the contract to make them that moved the most money.
⚖ Your verdict Live
In your view, is this a case of magouille — or calomnie?
📚 Sources
- The Manila Times — Nepal's ex-finance minister arrested in graft probe
- The Kathmandu Post — CIAA files case against 18 over Rs10.13bn passport procurement
- Outlook — Nepal's anti-corruption body charges officials, German firms in e-passport scam
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