Fingerprint system uncovers teacher’s absence, recovers 105,000 dinars

• Absent teacher received salaries over nearly two decades.

• Fingerprint system revealed her long-term absence from duty.

• Full amount was recovered and returned to the Ministry of Education.

Over a period spanning nearly two decades, from August 2004 to May 2024, a female expatriate teacher was paid a total of 105,000 Kuwaiti dinars in salaries, despite not fulfilling her teaching duties or being present in the field. The payments continued unnoticed until the issue came to light.

Following an investigation, the Public Prosecution confirmed that there was no criminal misuse of public funds, as the full amount remained in the teacher’s bank account and was eventually recovered by the Ministry of Education.

According to the Attorney General’s decision, the case began when the Ministry of Education filed a complaint with the Public Prosecution regarding a female teacher who had been absent from work for fifteen consecutive days without an excuse, starting on September 4, 2005, from the beginning of the 2004-2005 academic year. Despite her continued absence, she continued to receive her salary unjustly from that date until May 24, 2024.

Money in the Account

The decision stated that the defendant was appointed as an Arabic language teacher at an elementary school on August 24, 2004. According to the school principal, the teacher had not reported for duty since taking on administrative responsibilities in 2015.

Although the principal had contacted the Personnel Affairs Department and the elementary school supervisor to have her name removed from the system, and her name was indeed removed, it would reappear each academic year.

When the fingerprint attendance system was introduced on February 11, 2024, it was revealed that the teacher was still listed in the integrated systems despite her continued absence. The administrative investigation ultimately led to the suspension of her salary and the termination of her services.

According to the decision, a notice was issued by the Director General of the educational region to withhold the defendant’s salary due to her absence from work beginning August 24, 2004. Based on this, the total unjustly received salaries spanning from the date of her absence to May 23, 2024, which were calculated at 105,331 dinars, all of which had been regularly transferred to her bank account.

Upon contacting the bank, it was confirmed that the full amount remained untouched in her account. Consequently, the Central Bank recovered the entire sum and returned it to the Ministry of Education’s account. As a result, no financial loss was incurred by the Ministry, since the funds were fully restored.

No Suspicions

Investigations revealed that the defendant had not used her bank account since ceasing work, suggesting there was no criminal intent to unlawfully obtain public funds. Additionally, records from the Ministry of Interior confirmed that the defendant had left Kuwait on June 14, 2005.

The investigation found no evidence suggesting that any officials at the complainant’s workplace had deliberately facilitated the teacher’s receipt of funds, nor that the teacher had intentionally seized them.

Moreover, the financial amounts transferred by the Ministry of Education remained untouched in the teacher’s account from the time of transfer until the incident was discovered, with no transactions indicating her awareness of or intent to claim the funds.

Following investigations with Ministry of Education officials, the decision noted that it was not possible to determine who was responsible for the erroneous salary disbursements, as the teacher’s appointment in 2004 occurred during a period when records were manually documented on paper. Additionally, some of these documents were lost over time, which undermined the elements required to establish a case of misappropriation of public funds.

Based on the results of the investigation, the Public Prosecution decided to dismiss the suspicion of aggression against public funds. The case was recorded in the administrative complaints register and archived accordingly. Additionally, the order included halting any further search for the teacher named in the complaint.

Source: Al Rai