Syrian gets 10 years in jail in Kuwait for fake Saudi deals

Cairo: A Kuwaiti court had handed down a Syrian expatriate 10 years in prison on charges of money laundering and fraud over phoney real estate deals in Saudi Arabia, a Kuwaiti newspaper has reported.

The verdict was issued by the Criminal Court that also ordered the defendant to pay a fine of KD3 million, Al Rai added. The ruling can be appealed.

The man was charged with money laundering and fraud for having sold a phantom hotel in the Saudi city of Mecca for KD3 million to a group of Kuwait investors and apartments in the Saudi city of Medina.

The bogus deals were cut through a subsidiary linked to a company owned by an ex-Kuwaiti lawmaker accused of money laundering worth KD188 million through fake projects in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to the report.