Appeal Court upholds jail terms for Health Ministry personnel in 260,000 dinars attendance fraud case
The Second Circuit of Kuwait’s Court of Appeal has upheld prison sentences against two Ministry of Health engineers and confirmed disciplinary penalties against a third in a major public funds embezzlement and attendance forgery case involving approximately 260,000 dinars.
The Court of Appeal upheld the Criminal Court’s verdict after reviewing evidence related to the manipulation of employee attendance records and the unlawful collection of salaries through forged fingerprint data.
According to the Public Prosecution, the first accused, a public employee, facilitated the illegal appropriation of government funds by exempting one employee from the fingerprint attendance system despite his absence from work, falsely recording attendance for another employee who was not present, and failing to report the absence of a third accused.
Investigators said the scheme enabled the second, third, and fourth accused to unlawfully receive salaries and benefits from the Ministry of Health by forging e-attendance and departure records stored in the ministry’s fingerprint database system.
Prosecutors stated that the first accused also forged an official work commencement approval for the fourth accused by creating false electronic records and presenting fabricated information as legitimate government documentation.
The case revealed the second accused, an engineer, allegedly benefitted from approximately 101,000 dinars on the strength of falsified attendance records, while the third unlawfully received around 77,000 dinars. The fourth, also an engineer, was accused of fraudulently obtaining nearly 80,000 dinars.
The Ministry of Health had earlier launched an internal administrative investigation after uncovering suspected manipulation of fingerprint attendance systems and forged employee records.
The Criminal Court sentenced the first, second, and third accused in absentia to seven years imprisonment with hard labor. The court also ordered their dismissal from public service and instructed them to repay the embezzled amounts. In addition, each accused was fined double the value of the illegally obtained funds.
The court ordered the first accused to repay approximately 260,000 dinars, while the second and third accused were ordered to repay around 101,000 dinars and 77,000 dinars respectively, according to a local Arabic daily.
As for the fourth defendant, the court refrained from imposing a prison sentence on the condition that he submit a written pledge of good conduct for one year backed by a 500 dinars guarantee. He was nevertheless dismissed from his government position, ordered to repay the embezzled funds, and fined approximately 161,000 dinars.
The Court of Appeal ultimately upheld the Criminal Court’s verdict in full. Court records noted that the second accused had originally been convicted in absentia and did not appear during the appeal proceedings.
