Kuwait probes eight government officials for corruption
Eight Kuwaiti government officials were interrogated this year for alleged tampering with public money and profiteering from government tenders, according to a Kuwaiti newspaper.
Travel bans have already been issued against some of those officials, while others will be summoned for investigations in the next few days, Al Qabas reported, citing a source it described as well-informed.
“The accused officials exploited their power in government positions and obtained hundreds of thousands of dinars from public tenders they illegally awarded to certain individuals,” the source said.
The suspects include former ministerial undersecretaries, the source added.
Investigation committees at several government institutions, according to the same source, have uncovered an increase in cases involving profiteering, as well as manipulation of state tenders and projects. Some suspects are likely to be charged with money laundering.
“Investigation agencies have recently opened files related to officials’ involvement in profiteering, harming public money, embezzlement, and negligence,” the source said without providing further details.
There was no immediate government comment on the report.
Earlier this week, a Kuwaiti court sentenced a former government minister to seven years in prison on charges of profiteering from a business contract, harming public funds, and influence peddling.
The court, which handles cases involving government officials, handed down similar sentences to a former ministerial undersecretary and a former head of the Federation of Cooperative Societies in the same case related to awarding a government tender to a company without following legal procedures for personal gain.
