Cairo: A Kuwaiti criminal court had sentenced a citizen to five years in prison on charge of illegally trading in visas for migrant workers, local media said.
The court had convicted the man of swindling Egyptian expatriates out of their money, forging documents for them and leaving them without work, the Kuwaiti news website Mediacourt reported. It was not clear when the case unfolded or the number of victims.
Cases of fake visa for foreign job seekers have surfaced in Kuwait since the outbreak of COVID-19 and dozens of suspects including Kuwaitis and foreign residents have since been arrested.
In recent months, Kuwait has stepped up a massive crackdown on illegal foreigners as the country is seeking to redress its demographic imbal-ance.
In May, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba reported that authorities are likely to impose penalties on sponsors of foreigners who came to the country on visit visas and have not left in violation of rules. The penalties could include a two-year ban on those sponsors for obtaining any sponsorship visas, according to the report.
Reports show that some 14,650 foreigners have entered Kuwait on visit visas in the past three years and have not left for their home countries, swelling illegal expatriates in Kuwait, the paper quoted an unidentified source as saying at the time.
Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s overall population of 4.6 million.
