Kuwait court sentences former MP to three years in prison for fund misappropriation

Dubai: Kuwait's Court of Cassation, the country's highest judicial authority, has sentenced former lawmaker Saleh Ashour and another defendant to three years in prison with immediate effect after convicting them of misappropriating funds belonging to others, Al Rai Arabic daily reported.

The ruling overturned earlier acquittals issued by both the lower court. The court convicted the two men of embezzling public funds, while acquitting them of money laundering charges involving around KD151,000.

While the lower courts had cleared the defendants of charges including misappropriation and money laundering, the Court of Cassation found them guilty of misappropriating funds unrelated to the assets of the Al Thaqalayn Charity Association and ordered their immediate imprisonment.

The court, however, upheld Ashour's acquittal on the money laundering charge, ending one of Kuwait's most closely watched financial and legal cases.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by the Ministry of Social Affairs alleging violations of Kuwait's fundraising laws and the unlawful handling of funds belonging to the Al Thaqalayn charity. Subsequent investigations expanded to include allegations of fund misappropriation and money laundering.

As a ruling by the Court of Cassation, the judgment is final, binding and immediately enforceable, marking a dramatic reversal from full acquittal to conviction and imprisonment.