Court orders Minister and Health Ministry officials to pay $88 million in compensation
The Court of First Instance has ruled that a former Minister of Health, along with a former Undersecretary and Assistant Undersecretary, must compensate the Ministry with $88 million in connection with a contract with “Aetna International” a company responsible for reviewing treatment bills for patients sent to the United States of America.
The Ministry of Health contracted with Aetna International Limited to audit the treatment bills of patients sent to the United States of America. However, the contract faced scrutiny due to financial violations identified by the Audit Bureau, which prompted the issuance of Ministerial Resolution No. 119 of 2017 regarding the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the issues raised in the Audit Bureau’s report about the circumstances of the contract between the Ministry of Health and Aetna International Limited. The fact-finding committee subsequently prepared a report that concluded there were several financial and legal shortcomings that marred the contract.
The First, Second and Third defendants:
The public employees, entrusted with safeguarding the Ministry’s interests in its contracts, deliberately concluded an agreement that harmed the Ministry of Health’s interests in order to benefit the external party, Aetna International Limited.
They did so by adding an unauthorized 2.5% to the agreed-upon commission percentage in the contract, without the knowledge of the state’s regulatory authorities. This action enabled Aetna to secure $7,381,298, or its equivalent in Kuwaiti dinars, representing the value of the increase to the discount percentage. This addition was contrary to the percentage initially presented to the Fatwa and Legislation Department and the Central Shortages Committee, as revealed in the investigations.
The First, Second and Third defendants:
The public employees caused significant damage to the funds of the entity they work for, amounting to $81,194,284, or its equivalent in Kuwaiti dinars, due to their negligence in performing their duties and breaching their obligations.
This damage resulted from their contracting with the American company “Aetna” on 1/4/2015, in a contract that restricted the health office’s oversight and auditing of invoices.
The contract was concluded without obtaining prior approval from the Audit Bureau, without offering it for public tender, and without submitting the project documents and accurate factual data to the Fatwa and Legislation Department or the Central Tenders Committee. Furthermore, they granted the company significant facilities, leading to financial obligations for the Ministry. The agreed-upon percentage was much higher than what is customary.
The Ministerial Court ruled to imprison the first, second, third, and fourth defendants for seven years with hard labor, setting a bail of 10,000 dinars to suspend the enforcement of the sentence.
Additionally, the court obligated them to pay $81,194,284, or its equivalent in Kuwaiti dinars, and ordered the dismissal of the first, second, and third defendants from their jobs. The fourth defendant was ordered to be deported from the country after the execution of the imposed sentence.
Source: Al Jarida
