E-Passport Corruption Case

The Public Accounts Committee of Nepal's House of Representatives convened a meeting to discuss alleged irregularities and corruption in the passport printing process involving around Rs 10 billion, summoning officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Passports for information sharing.

Three individuals were arrested for embezzling funds from the Nepal Children's Organization intended for child maintenance and education, a case unrelated to the e-passport corruption scandal.

Nepal navigates complex geopolitical tensions by balancing U.S. advocacy for Tibetan refugee rights with China's security concerns over its southwestern border, impacting regional stability strategies.

Nepal's Public Accounts Committee began investigating alleged corruption and irregularities worth billions in the passport printing process, calling for document summons, a special audit, and a technical review.

Nepalese lawmakers called on the Public Accounts Committee to promptly investigate financial irregularities including the passport purchase scandal worth over Rs 10 billion, urging faster resolution and sub-committee formation.

Nepali Congress criticized corruption in passport printing and alleged government interference in constitutional bodies, demanding an impartial investigation into financial irregularities and pressure on officials.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority initiated an inquiry into alleged irregularities in uniforms procured for 133,980 election police recruited for Nepal's House of Representatives election, with expenditures around Rs 7.83 billion on salaries, rations, and uniforms.

The Special Court granted bail of Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000 to several top officials accused in the e-passport corruption case, amidst constitutional debates and confirmation to continue the e-passport project with the German consortium.

Corruption allegations in the e-passport procurement caused a governance crisis with legal deadlock, passport shortages, and conflicting government stances between the Prime Minister's Secretariat and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nepal's government decided to wait until July 19 to decide on continuing with German firms Veridos and Muhlbauer for biometric passports amid ongoing corruption investigations and doubts about project timelines.

Nepal's passport department faced critically low stock with under 45,000 booklets remaining while half a million passports supplied by German firm Veridos GmbH remained unused due to the ongoing corruption case, complicating government efforts to meet high passport demand amid diplomatic tensions.

Germany summoned Nepal's envoy to express concerns over the corruption case involving German firm Veridos and warned of legal and financial risks from potential premature contract termination.

The German Foreign Ministry summoned Nepal's Embassy acting ambassador to discuss the ongoing passport printing corruption investigation involving German firms Veridos and Muhlbauer in Nepal.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a Rs10.13 billion corruption case against 18 defendants, including top passport officials and two German companies, regarding irregularities in Nepal's e-passport procurement.

Nepal's electronic passport project reached near full operational deployment with 550,000 passports supplied and system integration completed despite technical non-compliance allegations against German contractors Veridos and Mühlbauer, prompting formal briefing of Germany's Federal Foreign Office and escalating diplomatic concerns.