Kuwait: Legal action against expat over counterfeiting KD19,000

Cairo: An Asian expatriate, working for the Central Bank of Kuwait, has been caught trying to replace KD19,000 ($61,594) in counterfeit banknotes, and has been referred to the public prosecution, according to a media report.

The counterfeits were in denominations of 20 and 10 Kuwaiti dinars known as the fifth issue, reported Al Anba newspaper.

Investigations with the suspect showed he thought that his work at the central bank would enable him to easily replace those notes with new bills from the sixth issue of the Kuwaiti currency.

The Central Bank of Kuwait has set April 18 as the deadline for exchanging the fifth-issue banknotes for the sixth-issue ones, pointing out that holders of the old notes are not entitled to exchange them after this date.

The central bank administration notified the Criminal Security Service that it had caught an expatriate in possession of KD19,000 banknotes, all of which were counterfeit, the report said, citing a security source.

During questioning, the accused admitted that he had taken advantage of the announced replacing of the old currency by counterfeiting the amount seized in his possession and then proceeded to exchange the fake currency, thinking that the matter could be passed due to his connections and because he is an employee at the central bank.

He also laboured under the illusion that his illegal act would not be uncovered because the old currency would not be pumped into the market once again but would be destroyed instead.

The source added that the accused also confessed that other people had helped him print the counterfeit currency. The accomplices were later arrested.