Kuwait’s highest appeals court has handed down 10-year prison sentences to seven expatriates employed in foreign exchange offices for money laundering. The court also imposed a combined fine of KD60 million (Dh715.7 million) on the individuals and three implicated forex firms. The case, labeled the largest money laundering operation in Kuwait’s forex sector, involved charges of forming an organized criminal group and engaging in money laundering activities totaling KD60 million. The defendants, whose nationalities were not disclosed, were accused of establishing an extensive illegal system outside the oversight of state authorities, thereby harming national interests.
In recent years, Kuwait has intensified its anti-corruption efforts, resulting in various sentences for individuals involved in high-profile cases. Last month, a former government minister received a seven-year prison term for profiteering, harming public funds, and influence peddling. The court also issued similar sentences to a former ministerial undersecretary and an ex-head of the Federation of Cooperative Societies in connection to a government tender awarded without following legal procedures for personal gain.
Mubarak Alarou, identified by Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai, served as the minister of social affairs from December 2021 to August 2022. Additionally, a Kuwaiti court sentenced an Egyptian expatriate to 15 years in prison for embezzling funds from the Kuwaiti Teachers’ Association in October. The same month, Kuwait’s top appeals court confirmed the imprisonment and dismissal of seven ex-judges on corruption charges related to a case involving an Iranian businessman, which surfaced around three years ago.
By FCCT Editorial Team
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}