There was a time, perhaps in black-and-white photos or dusty history books, when climbing Mount Everest meant something. It was supposed to be about human endurance, pushing the body to the absolute limit, and standing on top of the world. But let us be honest with ourselves. Those days are dead and buried under piles of frozen trash and empty oxygen bottles. Today, the world’s highest mountain is nothing more than a giant cash register, and apparently, everyone is trying to rob it.

Recent news out of Nepal confirms what cynics like me have suspected for years: everything is a scam if you look hard enough. Police have arrested six officials from mountain rescue agencies. Their crime? They are accused of running a massive fraud ring involving fake helicopter rescues. We are not talking about a few extra dollars here and there. We are talking about $20 million stolen from international insurance companies.

Let’s pause and appreciate the sheer audacity of this. $20 million. That is an impressive amount of money to make by pretending people are sick. It turns out that the majesty of nature cannot compete with the majesty of a wire transfer.

Here is how the game works, and frankly, it is so simple it is almost beautiful in a tragic way. You have tourists who pay a fortune to climb the mountain. Maybe they get tired. Maybe they get a little headache. Maybe they just realize that climbing a giant rock is actually quite miserable. In a normal world, you would tell them to tough it out or walk back down. But in the modern Everest economy, this is a business opportunity.

The rescue agencies—the very people supposed to be saving lives—allegedly saw these wealthy, tired tourists and saw dollar signs. They coordinate a helicopter rescue for a “medical emergency” that might not even exist. The helicopter flies up, picks up the tourist, and gives them a nice, easy ride down. The tourist gets to go home early with a cool story about surviving a medical crisis. The helicopter company charges a fortune. The rescue agency takes a cut. And the insurance company back in Europe or America gets the bill.

It is the perfect crime for our soft, lazy era. We have turned the ultimate adventure into an insurance claim. The sheer number of unnecessary flights is staggering. While real climbers are risking their lives, the sky is buzzing with air taxis ferrying fraudsters back to comfort. It turns out the most dangerous thing on Everest isn't the altitude or the avalanches; it is the human capacity for greed.

The government of Nepal has finally stepped in, arresting these six officials. They say they want to clean up the industry. They say this hurts the reputation of the country. And sure, it does. But let’s not pretend this is just about six bad apples. You do not steal $20 million without a lot of people looking the other way. This kind of corruption is like mold; by the time you see it on the surface, it is already deep inside the walls.

What makes this story so delightfully depressing is what it says about the "adventurers." The scam relies on climbers being willing to be rescued. It relies on people who want the status of being on Everest without the actual pain of being on Everest. If you are willing to hop on a helicopter because you are tired, and let your insurance pay for it, you are part of the problem. You are just cargo in a money-laundering scheme.

So, these six officials are in handcuffs. The government will pat itself on the back. They will say the system is fixed. But does anyone really believe that? As long as there are rich tourists willing to pay to feel special, and as long as there are insurance companies with deep pockets, someone will find a way to scam the system.

The mountain used to be a place where you faced your own mortality. Now, it is just another place to check your bank balance. The officials faking these rescues didn't see a sacred peak. They saw a resource to be mined. And in a world where everything is for sale, who can really be surprised? The only thing truly reaching new heights these days is the level of corruption.