21 accused, 17 companies: Court upholds verdicts in money laundering, ISIS-related cases
10-year jail terms in 101-million-dinar money laundering case; 202-million-dinar fines slapped
The State Security Circuit of Kuwait’s Court of Appeals has upheld a series of prison sentences and financial fines in cases involving money laundering, state security offenses and membership in the “ISIS” organization, according to court rulings.
The circuit, headed by Counselor Abdullah Al-Sanea issued rulings in several cases. In the first money laundering case, the court upheld 10-year prison sentences for 21 defendants of several nationalities. The case involved 17 commercial companies and the forgery of bank documents.
The accused were fined a total of 202 million dinars, equivalent to double the amount involved in the case, while the companies were fined 101 million dinars, representing the value of the funds involved. The case followed investigations by the State Security Service and the Financial Investigations Unit.
According to the prosecution, the defendants formed a terrorist group and laundered more than 101 million dinars obtained through crimes that harmed the country’s national interests.
The charges included forging bank documents, establishing fictitious companies to collect expatriate salaries in Kuwait and transfer them to Syria, conducting banking activities without official authorization, and laundering illicit funds through goods imported from China before transferring the money back to company accounts.
In a second case, the court upheld 10-year prison sentences for a Kuwaiti citizen and two Egyptian nationals. They were fined 199.588 million dinars, while commercial entities were fined 99 million dinars, representing the value of the money laundering offense. The entities were also permanently barred from conducting commercial activities.
The court acquitted one Kuwaiti citizen and two Egyptian nationals in the same case. The accused had been accused of conducting banking activities without a license by trading in foreign currencies linked to expatriate salaries in Kuwait and transferring the funds to others in Egypt.
The prosecution said the money was deposited into company accounts as legitimate revenues and profits, causing harm to the country’s national interests. The accused were arrested following investigations and an operation by the General Administration for Combating Terrorism and Money Laundering, in cooperation with the Criminal Execution Investigation Department.
According to security investigations, tracking the movement of funds revealed the involvement of the accused in multiple criminal offenses through coordination with traders in several sister and friendly countries. The investigations concluded that the activities harmed the financial and economic system and weakened confidence in the banking systems of those countries and Kuwait.
In another case, the court upheld a three-year prison sentence against a Twitter user for publicly challenging the rights of His Highness the Emir and insulting judges and questioning their integrity and impartiality. It also upheld the acquittal of the accused on a charge of insulting Egypt.
The court also upheld a 10-year prison sentence against a Kuwaiti citizen accused of joining the “ISIS” organization, promoting its terrorist and takfiri ideology on social media, receiving training through Telegram on making explosives, and attempting to bring an explosive belt into Kuwait with the intention of carrying out a terrorist operation against a community component. The accused was also convicted of publicly challenging the rights of His Highness the Amir and insulting the Amir.
According to the State Security Service’s investigations, the accused had pledged allegiance to leaders of the “ISIS” organization and received instructions on carrying out terrorist operations against a community component. The investigations said he was arrested before he could carry out the alleged operation.
The investigations also said the accused confessed to embracing the organization’s terrorist ideology, supporting bombing operations and targeting places of worship.
