Kathmandu: Yao Pucheng, a Chinese national also known as ‘Alex,’ who is one of the key suspects arrested in the ongoing gold smuggling case, has made startling revelations in his statement to the police. He admitted that his primary motive for coming to Nepal was to profit from gold trading.
In his statement, Pucheng divulged a sophisticated smuggling operation involving the establishment of various front companies to traffic gold from Hong Kong into Nepal. The contraband was concealed within everyday items, including brake pads, shavers, smartwatches, and electronic devices.
Pucheng, aged 36, a player in the gold smuggling trade, was apprehended on September 20, 2019, at the Delhi airport in India, where he was found in possession of 4 kilograms and 98 grams of gold. After posting bail of 5 lakh Indian rupees in court, his passport was retained, prompting him to obtain a Nepali passport through unofficial channels in India.
His statement to the police provides a detailed account of his acquisition of the fraudulent Nepali passport.
“I obtained a Nepali passport while in India. In June 2020, during a meeting at a Chinese restaurant in Delhi, a fellow Chinese national named Lao Hu, also known as Hu Hoichang, who had stayed with Lee Wen Sung during his initial visit to Kathmandu, offered to assist me in obtaining Nepali citizenship and a passport under my name.
I later inquired with Hu Hoiqiang about the cost of acquiring citizenship and a passport, to which he replied that it would require 250,000 Indian rupees. Subsequently, I provided him with the required amount. He used a mobile phone to capture my photo, which he intended to use for creating a Nepali citizenship certificate and passport in my name.
Towards the end of October 2021, I met with Hu Hoiqiang in Delhi’s Gurgaon area, where he affixed my photo to a Nepalese passport issued on October 5, 2021, in the name of Tenzing Sonam Tamang, bearing the passport number 12426042. He did not provide me with a Nepali citizenship certificate, claiming that the Nepali passport was arranged with the assistance of Karma Sherpa, known as Jimmy, residing in the Kathmandu Boudha area. However, I remain unaware of its exact origin. It was during a dinner meeting in a Delhi hotel that Hu Hoi Ching introduced me to Sherpa.
In addition to the Nepali passport, I also obtained an Indian Aadhaar card in April 2022, using the name ‘Alex’ when I was residing in India. I used this Aadhaar card to purchase a plane ticket upon entering Nepal via Nepalganj.
Unfortunately, the Nepali passport with my photo attached was lost when I changed rooms in Gurgaon, India. Although I made extensive efforts to locate the passport upon returning to Nepal, I was unsuccessful. Importantly, I did not bring the said passport into Nepal nor did I utilize it in any capacity.
Initially, upon my arrival in Nepal, I stayed at the Sichuan Hotel in Bouddha, Kathmandu, and subsequently shared a residence with a woman from Manipur, India, whom I met while working at a shoe factory. In early June 2023, I secured a rental property in Green Hill City, Dhumbarahi, but was eventually apprehended while in possession of gold-laden brake pads. Following this incident, I vacated the residence and began residing in various hotels in Kathmandu until my arrest in Kathmandu Naya Bazar.
The individuals arrested operated under the guise of Nepali citizens living in Kathmandu, registering multiple companies under various names, including Ready Trade Pvt. Ltd. They allegedly orchestrated the illegal gold smuggling operations by concealing the precious metal within goods such as brake pads, shavers, smartwatches, electronic machines, and other items imported from Hong Kong.
This statement sheds light on the intricate web of illegal activities carried out by the apprehended suspects, and authorities continue to investigate the extent of this smuggling network’s operations.
