Kuwait hands down jail sentences to 4, including expat, over exam paper leaks
Two of the convicts, including woman, get 10 and 7 years, 2 others get 1 year each
Cairo: In the second case related to paper leaks of crucial high school exams surfacing in the country, a Kuwaiti court has sentenced four people to varying jail terms.
The Kuwaiti Criminal Court has sentenced two citizens – a man and a woman – to 10 and seven years in prison respectively in the case.
Another Kuwaiti man and an expatriate were each given one year in jail in the same case, it added. The rulings can be appealed.
The defendants were charged with leaking classified information and forgery through involvement in online cheat groups targeting secondary school students.
Last month, a Kuwaiti court sentenced a citizen and an expatriate to 10 years in prison each after convicting them of involvement in online leaking of high school exams in another high-profile case.
The criminal court also ordered both defendants to pay a combined fine of KD482,000 in that case.
The duo were also accused of money laundering, and their bank accounts frozen after they had amassed money from the exam leak groups and selling cheat earphones.
Earlier this year, Kuwaiti prosecutors had referred to the court three such cases involving dozens of defendants on charges of exam leaks, forgery and money laundering, Al Qabas reported.
In January, Kuwaiti media reported that authorities had busted a network of secondary school exams after arresting 17 persons including 11 teachers and six accomplices suspected of involvement in leaking the tests a year earlier.
The number of students involved in the online scam was estimated at around 20,000.
Investigations revealed that a teacher and a mediator had set up a WhatsApp group giving members access to the exams in return for a fee of KD50 per member, according to media reports.
The leaks allegedly began last year and the students involved got access to answers to exam questions via special earphones.