Expatriates receive jail terms for forgery-for-cash offenses in Kuwait

Cairo: Two expatriates employed in Kuwait have been sentenced to imprisonment in separate cases involving the forgery of official documents for financial gain.

In the first case, an Egyptian employee at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Justice was sentenced to five years in prison by the Appeals Court. The defendant was found guilty of tampering with court rulings and entering incorrect data to illicitly facilitate the release of defendants in exchange for bribes, as reported by Al Qabas newspaper.

In a second case, an expatriate, whose nationality remains undisclosed and was sentenced in absentia, received a 10-year jail term. The conviction was related to falsifying blood sample results from foreign workers with contagious diseases, done in exchange for bribes. Three other defendants, all employed at the Ministry of Justice, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in the same case. They were charged with forgery and tampering with blood samples to assist expatriates in obtaining iqamas or residency permits.

Kuwait has recently intensified its efforts against corruption, resulting in varying jail sentences for defendants in prominent cases. In a separate incident last month, a Kuwaiti court sentenced a former government minister, Mubarak Alarou, to seven years in prison for profiteering, harming public funds, and influence peddling through a business contract.

Similarly, an Egyptian expatriate was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined KD1 million in October for embezzling funds from the Kuwaiti Teachers’ Association. Additionally, Kuwait’s top appeals court confirmed the imprisonment and dismissal of seven ex-judges on corruption charges dating back three years. The judges were sentenced to terms ranging from seven to 15 years, and their assets, including cars received as bribes, were confiscated.