Nepal's Ambassador to Australia, Lucky Sherpa, has handed her resignation to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs after allegations made by her former driver in Canberra of "human trafficking".
Handing her resignation on Friday, February 1, Ms Sherpa denied any allegations made against her.
''I resigned on moral grounds but I am not guilty of the charges labelled against me," she said.
"I was not put under pressure to resign by anyone."
In a statement released after handing her resignation Lucky Sherpa said, “I started my career campaigning against human trafficking… and my work has helped many victims get new lease of life".
”Serious thought need to be given on my record before being accused of such serious and baseless allegations”, she said.
Nepal's Ambassador to Australia, Lucky Sherpa with Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop and MP David Coleman in Canberra. Source: Lucky Sherpa
Wongchhu Sherpa alleged that he acted as a middle man for the ambassador, taking payments from people wanting to come to Australia in return for visas.
The Nepalese government formed a committee to investigate into the matter. Findings of that committee have not been revealed yet.
Lucky Sherpa began her diplomatic career in Australia in June 2017.
Just a middle man?
Wongchhu Sherpa says he came to Australia on 9 June 2017 to work at the Nepalese embassy in Canberra in return for financial payment.
Wongchhu doesn’t deny taking money from people, promising them with visas to Australia. But he claims he was doing it on behalf of the ambassador. He told News 24 Nepal that he was threatened with deportation from Australia if the ambassador’s name was divulged in any way.
Mr Sherpa’s wife, Phulhamu, has been under arrest since 20 May 2018 in Nepal over allegations of “cheating” people with false visa promises and taking money. He is the co-accused in the court case, which was first heard on 14 June 2018 in the Kathmandu district court.
Image of Kathmandu district court order against Mr Wongchhu Sherpa's wife. Source: Supplied
The then ambassador denied any knowledge of activities allegedly carried out by Wongchhu and his wife. She says she only found out about the allegations after Wongchhu’s victims started contacting her to recover their money.
Last year Ms Sherpa provided SBS with documents allegedly forged by Wongchhu to convince people in Nepal to pay him money to get Australia’s visa.
They were allegedly provided with false visa and employment letters from the Australian government and businesses.
Fake employment letter allegedly created to defraud Source: Supplied
When asked why the victims started contacting her, Ambassador Sherpa said because Wongchhu had blocked contact from everyone he had taken money from.
Ambassador Sherpa passed one of the alleged complaints against Wangchhu to SBS where a person from Singapore claimed he deposited $10,056.39 (Singapore Dollars) into Wongchhu’s bank account in Australia.
Alleged bank transfer made to Wongchhu Sherpa Source: Supplied
Alleged letter of complaint sent to Nepal Embassy in Canberra. Source: Supplied
Diplomatic Immunity
Wongchhu Sherpa says that on 17 October 2017, he reported his matter to the Fair Work Commission and worked at the embassy until 22 November 2017.
The following week, an official at the embassy reported to the Nepalese government that Wongchhu had allegedly stolen a number of items from the embassy and that the matter had been reported to the Australian Federal Police.
“Had the investigations found my wrongdoing they would have deported me from here, they didn’t”, says Wongchhu.
When contacted by SBS Nepali a spokesperson for the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said they “treat allegations of mistreatment of domestic workers by foreign diplomats seriously”.
But they refused to discuss any matter related to Wongchhu and the embassy saying the Australian government does not discuss individual cases due to privacy.
Wongchhu says diplomatic immunity means no action will be taken against the Ambassador.
However, Lucky Sherpa told SBS Nepali that she had written to DFAT officials instructing them that she had waived her diplomatic immunity so the AFP could investigate the claims. “DFAT and AFP said the case was closed because the claims against her were false”, she said.
Meanwhile Wongchhu Sherpa says he wants to go to Nepal but is concerned about his and his family’s safety.
“I’ve been getting threats including of kidnapping my son”, he told Nepali television. “I’ve reported this to human rights office and for the last six months I’ve kept my son hidden”.
Australian Nepali community reaction
Lucky Sherpa, Nepal's former Ambassador to Australia. Source: SBS Nepali
The allegations surrounding the Lucky Sherpa and her resignation have generated mixed reactions from members of the Nepali community in Australia.
Some say the ambassador is like a guardian for all Nepali citizens in the country and if the position is tainted then the ambassador has a moral responsibility to resign.
While others have been supporting Ms Sherpa saying she had been tried in the media without any evidence.
Lucky Sherpa is a member of Nepal Communist Party, currently in government.
