Top Kuwaiti court upholds jail term against ruling family member
The defendant was charged with embezzling $238m
Cairo: Kuwait’s top appeals court had turned down an appeal filed by a ruling family member, charged in a case of embezzling $238 million, and confirmed a five-year imprisonment sentence against him, according to a Kuwaiti newspaper.
The case is linked to the embezzlement of 238 million dollars from a state investment office in London involving the ruling family member and another defendant who died in 2019, Al Qabas added.
The Court of Cassation rejected the sheikh’s appeal against the ruling after he had failed to show up. Presence of a defendant is obligatory for hearing the appeal in Kuwait.
Accordingly, the earlier custodial sentence and an order to pay a fine of $40 million are now final against him, the paper said.
Neither the name of the convict nor the circumstances of the case were revealed.
In recent years, Kuwait, a country of around 4.6 million people, has stepped up a crackdown on suspected corruption.