3 Gulf nationals convicted over forging Kuwaiti citizenship

Cairo: Three Gulf nationals have been handed down seven-year jail sentences each on charges of forging Kuwaiti citizenship as the country is pressing ahead with a clampdown on fake citizens.

The Kuwaiti Criminal Court has ordered the three defendants - a father and his two sons — to pay a combined fine of KD 2.5 million (around $8.1 million), the value of the salaries and benefits they received from the state as Kuwaiti citizens, Al Qabas newspaper reported.

The case pertains to a man, who is a Gulf national, charged with colluding with a Kuwaiti citizen to unlawfully add his sons to the latter’s citizenship record under different names in 1989.

Subsequently, false data were provided to the Kuwaiti General Directorate of Nationality, Passports, and Citizenship to issue passports and ID cards for them.

An investigation officer told the court that the Kuwaiti man accused in the case had passed away after being involved in forging citizenship and adding Gulf nationals to his name.

Investigations revealed that a total of 12 cases of forged citizenship had been registered against him.

Kuwait, a country of about 4.9 million people mostly expatriates, has recently intensified efforts to combat citizenship fraud and dual nationality violations to protect its national identity.

As a result, thousands of individuals have had their Kuwaiti citizenship revoked since March last year due to forgery or holding a second nationality, which is prohibited under Kuwaiti law.