Producer of Nepali Film 'Tel Visa' Arrested on Fraud Charges

Shivraj Karki, the producer behind the Nepali film Tel Visa, has been arrested by police on charges of fraud and violations of foreign employment laws. A team from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office apprehended the 44-year-old on Monday from Swayambhu, Kathmandu.

Karki, originally from Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-7 in Sindhuli and most recently residing in Makalibari, Gokarneshwar Municipality-4, Kathmandu, is accused of swindling crores of rupees from hundreds of people by promising to send them abroad — to the United States, New Zealand, and several European countries including Croatia, Greece, Italy, and Serbia.

According to police, Karki collected anywhere between Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh per person. Investigators believe he defrauded between 200 and 250 individuals lured by the promise of foreign employment. More than 100 victims have already come forward and contacted authorities.

The Foreign Employment Tribunal had issued an arrest warrant against him as far back as Bhadau 4 of this year, but Karki managed to evade authorities for nearly three months by going into hiding. It has since emerged that he had slipped across the border to New Delhi, India, where he was running a small fast food outlet called Annapurna Fast Food in Paharganj — and had even obtained Indian government-issued Aadhaar and PAN cards.

For the past decade, Karki had been operating a visa consultancy firm called P&M Innovative Services in Chabahil, Kathmandu. Investigators say he used the consultancy as a front to collect money from people hoping to work abroad. A separate banking fraud case against him had also already been registered at Lainchaur Police Circle.

Tel Visa, which hit theaters on Mansir 7, is a story centered on Nepalis living in America and was filmed across both the United States and Nepal.

This arrest comes months after the film's director Shankar Ghimire and his wife — actress and co-producer Richa Ghimire — also faced fraud complaints in late Kartik 2081, with accusers alleging they too had been promised trips to America that never materialized.

Karki is currently in custody and facing further investigation into both the foreign employment fraud and the banking offense cases.