Kuwait’s ex-minister sentenced to 14 years in jail and fined millions for embezzlement

Dubai: Kuwait’s Ministerial Court has sentenced former Interior Minister Sheikh Talal Al Khaled to 14 years in prison over embezzlement charges tied to the budgets of the defence and interior ministries, according to local media reports on Sunday.

The court’s ruling includes two separate cases. In the first case related to the Ministry of Defence, Sheikh Talal was handed a seven-year prison term, dismissed from public office, and ordered to repay 500,000 (Dh5.44 million) Kuwaiti dinars (KD) and pay an additional fine of KD1 million.

A co-defendant, identified as an expatriate, was sentenced to four years in prison, fined KD294,000, and will be deported upon completing the sentence.

In the second case involving the Ministry of Interior, Sheikh Talal received another seven-year prison sentence with hard labour and was fined KD19 million.

The court also ordered the repayment of KD9 million and the confiscation of vehicles linked to the case.