4 get jail terms for tampering with power bills in Kuwait
Forger of medical reports detained amid a stepped-up clampdown on corruption
Cairo: Four people were each sentenced to four years in prison in Kuwait after being convicted of tampering with electricity metre readings. Authorities have intensified an anti-corruption crackdown.
The defendants – two Kuwaiti citizens and two expatriates – were charged with forgery, seizing state money and illegally accessing a government information website affiliated with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity and Water. The appeals court acquitted a fifth person in the same case.
They had been arrested earlier for illegally accessing the site, tampering with power consumption readings and issuing bills lower than the real consumption in return for money.
Forgery case
In another forgery case, Kuwaiti police arrested a person suspected of dealing in false medical reports in return for money. Police found in his possession four bogus seals, equipment used in the forgery process and samples of false medical leave reports.
The man was detained after police received a legal complaint from a government agency that one of its employees had presented a dubious medical report, Al Anba newspaper said, citing a security source.
The report turned out to be false. Investigations with the employees led to the forger. A raid on the latter's house resulted in finding a cache of forged reports and seals falsely naming doctors at healthcare centres.
Crackdown on fake degrees
Kuwait has recently stepped up a crackdown on fake degrees, sending a new set of questionable education certificates to prosecution in July, the second such step in less than one month.
Kuwaiti Minister of Education and Higher Education Adel Aldawani last week referred an unspecified number of post-high school degrees to public prosecution because their holders had presented false documents and unlawfully changed data included in them. The official said the steps are part of the ministry's relentless efforts to "combat corruption and eliminate forgers".
Kuwait is thoroughly vetting education certificates presented by civil servants to get a job. The Ministry of Education and the Civil Service Commission have recently taken steps to detect bogus degrees by examining education certificates of all state employees obtained since the year 2000.