Kathmandu, July 30 -- In 2009, five Tibetans arrived at the German Embassy in Kathmandu carrying Nepal-issued travel documents and seeking visas to join relatives who had been granted asylum in Germany. They claimed they were recent arrivals from Tibet. But their documents soon raised a troubling question: how had newcomers to Nepal obtained official travel papers so quickly?

That question set off an investigation that exposed alleged abuse of Nepal's travel document system, possible involvement of foreign ministry officials, hundreds of missing travel document booklets and a case that languished for years.

The case filed on Monday over passport offences alleges that Nepal's travel document system was abused to provide government-issued...