Kuwait court issues sweeping verdicts in state security, money laundering cases
- Four men put behind bars for 10 years in money laundering case, fined approximately 199 million dinars
- Another four, three Kuwaitis and a Lebanese, get 10 years, fined 6 million dinars for financing and joining the Lebanese Hezbollah group
- A Kuwaiti sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined approximately 6.07 million dinars in another money laundering case
A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday issued dozens of rulings in cases involving money laundering, terrorism financing, state security offenses and alleged incitement, handing down prison sentences, hefty fines and acquittals in a series of high-profile proceedings.
The State Security and Terrorism Crimes Court, headed by Judge Nasser Al-Badr and comprising Judges Omar Al-Mulaifi, Abdullah Al-Faleh and Salem Al-Zayed, issued 46 verdicts covering a range of offenses, including money laundering, financing terrorism, joining banned organizations and incitement-related charges.
In one of the largest cases, the court sentenced four accused to 10 years in prison after finding them guilty of money laundering. The accused were also fined approximately 199 million Kuwaiti dinars ($650 million), while commercial entities linked to the case were fined around 99 million dinars, equivalent to the value of the laundered funds.
The court ordered the entities to be permanently barred from conducting commercial activities.
In a separate case, four accused men, three Kuwaiti citizens and a Lebanese, were sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined a total of 6 million dinars after finding them guilty of financing and joining the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
The court also sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen to 10 years in prison and imposed a fine of approximately 6.07 million dinars in another money laundering case.
Among state security-related cases, the court sentenced social media user Fawaz Al-Kathiri to five years in prison.
Other rulings included three-year prison terms for citizens convicted of charges related to expressing sympathy and inciting sedition, while a non-Kuwaiti man received a two-year prison sentence followed by deportation.
The court acquitted 33 Kuwaiti citizens in several separate cases and overturned previous in absentia convictions against other defendants, clearing them of charges related to incitement and sedition.
The verdicts are among the most significant issued by Kuwait’s State Security and Terrorism Crimes Court in recent months, reflecting the country’s continued efforts to combat financial crimes and address national security-related offenses.
