Investigation Report on Health Test Fraud Lost by Ministry of Labor
The Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security has misplaced the investigation report and related files concerning the health test syndicate involved in foreign employment. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), formed by the police, has sent three letters to the ministry requesting the original copies and relevant files for investigation. Former Minister Rajendra Singh Bhandari stated that he had submitted a copy of the report to the ministry and that the investigation was ongoing.
Kathmandu, 12 May – It has been revealed that the investigation report and associated files regarding the syndicate defrauding workers undergoing medical examinations for foreign employment have gone missing from the ministry. Despite repeated requests, the CIB has not been able to obtain the study report and files prepared after the investigation into the health test syndicate.
A task force led by Deputy Secretary Upendra Paudel submitted a report after the investigation, but it remained pending in the ministry for a long time. The Prime Minister’s Office, taking interest in the matter, directed the CIB to carry out further investigations. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the CIB was instructed on 15 April to investigate the syndicate’s activities in the health sector and subsequently began the inquiry.
Following the Prime Minister’s Office directive, the CIB requested documents from the ministry. The ministry claimed to have sent the requested details via letter no. 314. However, as the information was incomplete, the CIB sent another request on 29 April through letter no. 10881. Thereafter, the ministry provided a 13-page photocopy to the CIB on 8 May.
“The requested details were already sent through the Ministry of Home Affairs in letter no. 314 dated 17 April 2021. Additionally, a 13-page copy of the documents is attached,” stated the ministry’s letter signed by employee Mamata Kumari. Despite this claim, the CIB has sent two further letters requesting the original copies and files necessary for the investigation. These documents have not yet been received from the ministry.
“We have repeatedly requested the original file and documents required for the investigation but have yet to receive them,” said a senior CIB official. In light of the report being missing from the ministry, Minister Ramji Yadav contacted former Minister Rajendra Singh Bhandari on Monday. The CIB’s third request explicitly seeks original copies and complete files, not photocopies.
Since the ministry provided photocopies of only 13 pages twice, the CIB issued a third letter on 11 May demanding the full versions and relevant files. The failure to provide these documents has caused unrest within the ministry.
Rajendra Singh Bhandari was appointed Labor Minister on 11 December in the interim government formed after the second People’s Movement. He declared the dissolution of the foreign employment syndicate and constituted a 16-member special task force including Deputy Secretary Upendra Paudel, Lawrij Joshi, two DSPs, and Nepal Police Inspectors.
“After assuming ministerial responsibility, I created a joint task force comprising ministry employees and police and directed them to focus on organized crime in foreign employment. They were transferred to the Foreign Employment Department, but due to poor work conditions, they could not remain there,” said former Minister Bhandari.
The task force was later deployed for monitoring, and Minister Bhandari instructed an investigation into the operation of the foreign employment syndicate. The committee submitted their report. “The report was on my table, and I had prepared a separate section on how to proceed with action; however, work stopped due to the elections. Some members even participated in the elections. After the new government took office, they decided to take action. I did not return to the ministry after the elections,” he added.
Now, the report submitted by this task force has gone missing from the ministry. After failing to locate the report, Minister Yadav reached out to former Minister Bhandari. “The minister inquired yesterday. I searched at home but could not find it. It should have been kept in the ministry. Since I left the position, I have no knowledge of its whereabouts,” Bhandari said, adding that he had already provided the ministry with a well-organized copy.
Following complaints about health test fraud and tax evasion, Bhandari consulted with officials from the Revenue Investigation Department and CIB. During his tenure, on 19 December 2025, the health examination fee was reduced from NPR 9,500 to NPR 6,500. In an interview on 6 February, he revealed that the secretary had opposed the fee reduction.
“I decided to reduce the fee, but the secretary did not agree. When I said I would clarify the matter through the media, the secretary was ready to process the file,” Bhandari explained.
Suspicions have been raised that the report was lost due to culprits including Kailash Khadka, president of the National Health Professionals Association, among others responsible for the syndicate operating between health institutions conducting medical examinations for foreign employment. At that time, Krishna Hari Pushkar was the labor secretary. The disappearance of the file amidst opposition to the fee reduction is seen as a sign of irregularity. The ministry has yet to provide a clear response about the lost report and files.
Although attempts to contact Labor Secretary Deepak Pandel were unsuccessful, a ministry spokesperson confirmed that the search is ongoing. “Members of the committee have stated they submitted the report, but we have been unable to locate it. The search continues, and there is no further information,” said Gimire.
The 16-member task force raided 36 health institutions conducting medical tests for foreign employment, collected extensive documents, and completed investigations. Separate reports and files were prepared for each institution. Despite recommendations for punitive action based on evidence, the ministry has lost the files related to these 36 institutions.
The missing report emphasized the need to investigate fraud, organized crime, foreign currency violations, offenses against the state, and money laundering, naming individuals including Kailash Khadka, president of the Nepal Health Professionals Federation. It mentions that health institutions and human resource agencies run a syndicate that extorts money during foreign employment processes and evades taxes.
According to the agreement between Nepal and Malaysia, under the “Security Screening and Medical Examination” scheme, employers must refund the medical examination fee to workers from their first-month salary. However, the report highlights that such refunds were not made and detailed investigations are needed to identify who received the money.
Despite the fee being reduced to NPR 6,500 on 19 December 2025, some manpower companies and medical centers charged more. Sachin Chaudhary, a 22-year-old resident of Shivraj Municipality, Kapilvastu, filed a complaint and gave a video statement. Those institutions charging extra fees were recommended for punishment.
There were also violations of rules that stipulate that service fees should not exceed NPR 10,000, even for free visas and tickets. The task force found that higher fees were charged. Between 13 and 29 February 2020, the 36 health institutions conducted medical tests for 11,828 Malaysian workers contracted by Bestnet Malaysia and Micro Teach Pvt. Ltd. as per Nepal’s agreement. The Malaysian embassy sent a letter dated 16 June 2020 to Nepal Rastra Bank which is suspected to be forged.
Questions have been raised about the role of ministry staff and ministers. It is suspected that funds were transferred to Malaysia based on the embassy’s letter. The task force also observed that manpower companies had a pattern of forcing workers to undergo medical exams to defraud them.
South Asian Medical Center Pvt. Ltd. issued fake medical reports, leading to workers failing exams in Malaysia and being sent back; the task force collected these cases. Although the 36 institutions were exempt from VAT on health services, Micro Teach was issued a VAT bill for NPR 3,164, indicating links to organized crime and money laundering.
Procedural regulations suggest that monitoring and regulation are necessary when health institutions do not operate properly. It was recommended to stop repeated testing by the same individual and the resulting unnecessary fees. The task force began investigations after reports of fraud and tax evasion related to health exams dating back to 2013. They found that more than NPR 450 million was collected in excess fees from around 15 individuals, with further investigation underway.