Kuwait uncovers major citizenship fraud by single Syrian family

Dubai: Kuwait has revoked the nationality of 108 people after uncovering an elaborate fraud orchestrated by an extended Syrian family, the Ministry of Interior announced.

 According to local media reports, the investigation, months in the making, began when a man was stopped while trying to flee through Kuwait International Airport. Under questioning, he admitted he had obtained Kuwaiti nationality illegally and revealed that several of his siblings were in fact his Syrian brothers, all posing as Kuwaitis.

 At the centre of the scheme, officials say, was a Syrian national who had forged documents to be listed as the father of dozens of others. His civil file eventually ballooned to include 53 names, none of whom had legitimate claims to citizenship. Further digging exposed his brother, who had used marriage records and falsified kinship documents to extend the fake family tree.

 Together, the brothers built an interlocking network of fraudulent files that spanned generations, marriages and dependents. Using DNA testing, investigators proved there were no biological ties to the Kuwaiti citizens under whose lineage they claimed to belong.

 The probe, which officials describe as the most sophisticated of its kind, is still widening. Kuwait’s Supreme Nationality Investigation Committee is reviewing hundreds of additional cases, and more than 200 Syrians are expected to lose their citizenship in the coming weeks.

Kuwait recently revoked the citizenship of more than 1,060 individuals in what is being described as the largest nationality fraud operation in the country’s history, following an intensive investigation that uncovered decades-long networks of forged identities and falsified records.

The investigation was led by the Supreme Committee for the Investigation of Kuwaiti Nationality, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior’s Nationality Investigation Department. The campaign uncovered decades-old fraud networks involving forged identities, false family claims, and dual nationalities