Kathmandu: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has initiated a probe into a potential e-passport scam involving the French company IDEMIA. IDEMIA, which was contracted to print two million e-passports for Nepal, is under scrutiny for alleged financial mismanagement.
The investigation focuses on discrepancies in the contract and production processes. IDEMIA was awarded a US$ 21 million contract in October 2020, with US$ 2.4 million designated for setting up passport printing infrastructure. However, it appears this infrastructure cost was not deducted as agreed, leading to the production of 3.1 million passports instead of the contracted two million. This overproduction has raised concerns about inflated costs.
Allegations suggest that the former Director General of the Department of Passports and senior officials from the ministry may have been involved in these irregularities. In 2022, an additional 300,000 passports were reportedly ordered without following the proper tender process, further complicating the situation and raising suspicions of financial misconduct.
The CIAA’s investigation aims to uncover the full extent of the financial discrepancies and determine the reasons behind the excess passport production and associated inflated costs.