KATHMANDU, Sept 10: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has begun probing a potential e-passport scam involving French company IDEMIA, contracted to print two million e-passports for Nepal.

The investigation centers on financial mismanagement, with the production of 3.1 million passports instead of the agreed 2 million. IDEMIA secured a US$ 21 million contract in October 2020, with US$ 2.4 million allocated for setting up passport printing infrastructure. However, it appears this amount wasn't deducted, and extra passports were issued, inflating costs.

Allegations suggest the former director general of the Department of Passports and senior ministry officials were involved in this irregularity. Instead of following the tender process, 300,000 additional passports were ordered in 2022, raising concerns about the misuse of variations and funds.

The CIAA aims to uncover the full extent of the financial discrepancies tied to inflated costs and passport overproduction.