The Tamesis
April 10, 2026
kathmandu – The Commission to Investigate Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed corruption cases before a special court against 28 individuals, including former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Joint Secretary Arun Pokharel and a company, in connection with the gold smuggling case.
The anti-corruption agency has named Mahara, his son Rahul Mahara, Pokharel and others as accused, accusing them of helping smuggle gold hidden in e-cigarettes. The CIAA identified the loss suffered by the state due to smuggling at Rs 77.86 million and is seeking recovery from the defendants.
The charge sheet shows that the defendants allegedly colluded with a Chinese smuggling network to illegally import gold hidden in e-cigarette devices and played a role in removing contraband brought into Nepal in December 2022.
The CIAA said it had sought fines and jail terms for officials accused of negligence and conspiracy during the initial investigation and clearance process, as well as a one-time recovery of the amount claimed.
Those accused include the then Chief Customs Collector of Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office Arun Pokharel, Chief Customs Officers Mukti Prasad Shrestha and Ambika Prasad Khanal, Customs Officers Ramesh Kumar Khatiwada and Subendra Shrestha and several ungazetted officials.
The case also named foreigners including Chinese nationals Li Hang and Wang Daojing, Belgian citizen Dawa Tshering, Indian citizen Saheb Rao Pandurang Magal and Dexter Travel and Tourism Private Limited.
The charge sheet shows that the accused played a role in clearing contraband brought into Nepal by a Chinese gang in December 2022 under the cover of e-cigarettes.
What is going on?
The case stems from an incident on December 25, 2022, when a smuggling network attempted to bring gold concealed in vaping devices from Dubai.
Investigation revealed that the smugglers hid the gold in 730 e-cigarettes in 73 boxes and transported it to the customs warehouse through Tribhuvan International Airport. The gold weighed about nine kilograms, but much of it was later lost.
A Chinese national named Li Hansong arrived in Kathmandu on flydubai flight FZ 0587, carrying two suitcases containing hidden gold. He originally planned to hand over the goods to Wang Daojin, the main criminal suspected of having ties to Mahala.
Customs officials became suspicious and seized the shipment that day. Han Song escaped soon after.
Investigators said Dawkin then mobilized Mahala and his son to secure the release of the seized goods. Phone records show Mahala and his son contacted customs officials, middlemen and members of the smuggling network 256 times.
Three days after the seizure, on December 28, Mahala and his son allegedly repeatedly pressured customs officials to release the shipments, even before the public knew the e-cigarettes contained gold.
The seized items were stored in a sealed warehouse. However, allegedly in collusion with customs staff and middlemen, the original gold-containing e-cigarettes were replaced with ordinary devices and taken away.
The scheme was unraveled after a security guard deployed at the warehouse took one of the devices home. Upon opening it, he discovered gold inside and revealed the operation.
Following this, the airport customs on May 9, 2023 requested the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the theft. Several people, including customs officer Revant Khadka, were arrested.
Khadka later told investigators they had removed the gold-plated devices from storage and replaced them with regular e-cigarettes. After two months of investigation, the police only found about 100 grams of gold and confirmed that nearly 9 kilograms of gold had been stolen.
The District Government Prosecutor’s Office had earlier filed a smuggling case with the Kathmandu District Court on July 13, 2023, but Mahala, his son and Pokharel were not named as defendants at that time.
Investigators later discovered that the gold belonged to an Indian national from Maharashtra named Nandukumar Randuram Margale. He allegedly set up a workshop in New Road for testing and processing of smuggled gold.
Authorities said the plan was to transport gold from China to India via Nepal, but the network was exposed after the operation failed.
Mahala and his son were later arrested in connection with the case. The CIA has now accused the former speaker of abuse of public office and involvement in organized smuggling.
According to CIB investigations, Mahara was previously remanded in connection with another smuggling case filed on October 15, 2025. The High Court later ordered his release on a bail of Rs 20 lakh on November 27, 2025.
The case remains under investigation until the anti-corruption agency files current corruption charges.
Mahara, a senior Maoist leader active during the decade-long armed conflict, held key positions after the peace process, including minister of finance, interior and foreign affairs, and later speaker of the House of Representatives.
His political career has been repeatedly overshadowed by controversy, including a past allegation involving a recording related to an attempt to raise money from Chinese interests and a rape allegation made by a parliamentary secretariat staffer while he was speaker.
