Kathmandu: The police have arrested two men accused of acting as key money mules in an international cryptocurrency laundering operation, handling transactions worth nearly Rs 263 million combined. The arrests highlight how jobless or underemployed youth are increasingly being lured into sophisticated online scams that exploit Nepal’s unregulated crypto market.
Mohammad Saif, a graduate from Bara district living in Kathmandu, was detained last Wednesday after authorities linked him to cryptocurrency trades totalling Rs 198.1 million. Like many young Nepalis searching for work, Saif spent his free time scrolling social media when he stumbled across a video promising “earn money from home.” The ad included a WhatsApp number. Desperate for income, he immediately messaged it.
He was soon connected to a handler claiming to be in the Maldives who instructed him to watch specific videos, join Telegram groups, and follow step-by-step tasks in exchange for payment. At first, small amounts were deposited into his account after completing simple actions, quickly building trust. Encouraged by the easy money, Saif dove deeper, eventually trading crypto around the clock from his room. His world shrank to his phone and laptop screen; he rarely left his rented room.
Investigators say Saif opened ten bank accounts across different banks and used a 24/7 “DPS” trading account to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Much of the funds came from Nepali migrant workers in Russia, Cambodia, and Nigeria who receive salaries in US dollars and were looking to invest or send money home through crypto channels.
The following day, police arrested 22-year-old Bikash Sah Bania from Kathmandu’s Asan area in connection with an additional Rs 68 million in suspicious crypto transactions. A commerce graduate from a local trading family, Bania had previously come to police attention for allegedly collecting money from Indian merchants in Asan with promises to send it to their families in India, only to pocket the cash. Although no formal case was filed at the time due to lack of hard evidence, officers had warned his family about his activities.
Like Saif, Bania fell into the same trap after watching similar “easy money” videos online. He opened six bank accounts solely for crypto transfers and also operated a DPS trading account. Police say he had been active in the network for over a year.
Both men never met their overseas handlers in person and communicated only through encrypted messaging apps, often using coded language. Transactions were completed in minutes: funds appeared in their accounts, were quickly converted to crypto, and moved onward. Authorities were able to trace them through ConnectIPS transfers, URL links, and mobile location data.
Kathmandu Police spokesperson SP Pawan Kumar Bhattarai explained that the masterminds deliberately recruit unemployed or financially struggling young people because they are eager for quick income and less likely to question the source of funds. “Many jobless youths are falling for ‘easy money’ schemes,” he said.
Police data shows a sharp rise in cryptocurrency-related crime in Nepal. In the current fiscal year 2024-25 alone, 28 cases have been registered and 117 people arrested, including 72 Nepalis and 45 foreigners, with estimated illegal transactions exceeding Rs 7.8 billion. The numbers have grown every year since the first case was recorded in 2020-21.
Although cryptocurrency itself is not banned for personal use in Nepal, trading, mining, and using it as payment are prohibited under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. Anyone involved in unauthorized foreign exchange transactions worth Rs 10 million or more faces up to three years in prison in addition to fines.
Authorities warn that online “work-from-home” schemes promising big returns for simple tasks are almost always fronts for money laundering. As long as unemployment remains high and crypto stays in a legal gray zone, experts fear more young Nepalis will be drawn into these global criminal networks without ever realizing they are breaking the law.
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