An official of the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) has been sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail with hard labor for corruption, while an automobile company owner was given a four-year prison term, in a case of bribery filed against them by the Public Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha).
The criminal court in pronouncing the sentence added that the CTC official should be immediately removed from office and imposed on him a fine of KD290,000, nearly double the amount involved in the crime. The court also suspended the sentence on the automobile company owner on a bail of KD4,000. A third, accused in the case, an employee of the automobile company was acquitted.
The court heard that the three defendants conspired to obtain a tender called for by the ministry of health for the purchase of ambulances. The CTC official allegedly received three vehicles, worth an estimated KD148,000, from the owner of the automobile company to approve the bid submitted by him for the tender. The third suspect, the employee of the car company, reportedly delivered the vehicles to the official.
