Cairo: In a final verdict, a Kuwaiti court sentenced seven expatriates to seven years in prison each on charges of money laundering, fraud, and embezzlement — the latest such case uncovered in the country.
The Court of Cassation, Kuwait's highest appeals tribunal, also ordered the defendants — two Europeans and five Arabs — to be deported after serving their sentences. According to the news website Almajilis, two of the defendants are currently in Kuwait.
The defendants were found guilty of participating in a Europe-based fraud ring. The case came to light after a Kuwaiti citizen filed a legal complaint alleging he was defrauded of KD157,000 ($509,830) when two of the defendants tricked him by phone into making financial transactions via electronic platforms.
In recent years, Kuwait has intensified its anti-corruption efforts, resulting in various jail sentences for those implicated in fraudulent schemes.
Last month, a Kuwaiti court sentenced a lawyer to 10 years in prison for real estate fraud and money laundering. The court upheld the earlier ruling, issued in absentia, and ordered the lawyer to pay a fine of KD1 million and return KD2 million to victims. The lawyer, convicted of defrauding Kuwaitis through fake projects, was extradited to Kuwait via Interpol for selling non-existent apartments in the country.
In November, a Kuwaiti court ordered the interrogation of a former government minister in connection with property fraud allegations. A group of complainants accused the ex-minister of fraud and laundering KD100 million, purportedly collected for investment in a hotel near the Holy Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The public prosecution had earlier paused a complaint filed by 160 alleged victims from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia against the former minister and other founders of a real estate company investing abroad. The minister's name was not disclosed.
Sign up for the Daily Briefing
Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox
Network Links
GN StoreDownload our app
© Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2025. All rights reserved.