KATHMANDU: The sentencing hearing for the defendants convicted in the high-profile fake Bhutanese refugee scam has been placed under a “continuous hearing” status for tomorrow, following an incomplete session on Monday.

Earlier on July 7, a bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka found the defendants guilty in the case.

The same bench had scheduled today’s session to determine the specific sentences and penalties for those convicted, but the hearing could not be concluded.

The trial, which originally began in May 2023, concluded its phase of determining guilt on July 7, 2026, when the Kathmandu District Court convicted the majority of the defendants.

The court found former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, and others guilty of principal offenses under organized crime and crimes against the state.

Former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rijal were among those convicted as accomplices.

The scam involved a network of racketeers and state officials who secretly altered a 2019 government task force report. By inserting fake names and fabricating paperwork, they defrauded hundreds of ordinary Nepali citizens of roughly Rs 288 million by promising them resettlement in the United States as Lhotshampa Bhutanese refugees.

While seven individuals were completely acquitted due to insufficient evidence, the substantive hearings for the convicted individuals only gained momentum in early 2026.

The proceedings had previously faced major delays due to extensive bail appeals and an arson incident during Gen Z-led unrest in September 2025 that damaged the court’s case files.

Following Monday’s incomplete sentencing session, both the defense and prosecution arguments will continue tomorrow to finalize individualized prison terms and financial fines.