Man in Kuwait in receives salary for 10 years without going to work, gets 5-year jail

Dubai: Kuwait’s court of cassation has sentenced a government employee to five years in prison after finding that he unlawfully received 10 years’ worth of salaries despite being absent from work throughout that period. The country’s highest court overturned earlier rulings by the criminal court and the court of appeal, both of which had acquitted him.

The court also ordered the defendant to repay KD104,000, the value of the salaries he illegally collected, and imposed an additional fine equal to double that amount as a financial penalty. The total sum he must return now stands at KD312,000.

In addition, the court ruled that he be dismissed from his position, Al Qabas Arabic daily reported.

According to case records, the man, who worked in the citizens’ service department, continued to receive monthly payments for a decade despite no longer performing his duties. Investigations revealed that the salaries were deposited without any justification, prompting authorities to open a criminal case against him for unlawful enrichment and abuse of public funds.

The cassation court found that the evidence clearly demonstrated the defendant’s prolonged absence from work and his illegal receipt of public money, ruling that the earlier acquittals were flawed.

The judgment is one of the strongest issued in recent years against salary fraud within the public sector and comes amid wider efforts by Kuwaiti authorities to tighten oversight, combat administrative corruption and protect state funds.