Massive fraud discovered in gold jewelry items in market

Kuwait-bound man held with bullets at Delhi airport

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 14, (KUNA): Ministry of Commerce and Industry inspectors have discovered fraud of 3.940 kgs of gold valued at KD 50,000 ($165,000) at a gold store in Al-Rai district. The case was later referred to prosecution.

The Ministry added in a statement Tuesday that the forged items were gold jewelry items of Indian precision.

Cavities in the gold jewelry have been filled with cheap materials in order to increase their weight and sell them as pure gold.

The ministry will take all needed procedures against the forgers, who have already been referred to the competent authorities, the statement added.

The ministry will increase inspection of gold and jewelry markets to verify validity and condition of scales and percentage of precious stones engraved with the items displayed for sale.

The Ministry is supervising all the precious metals and stones, whether those displayed at the stores or produced in factories locally or coming from abroad, it said.

It will penalize counterfeiters to protect the consumers, the statement concluded.

Agencies add: Bullets with man:

A Kuwait-bound passenger has been apprehended at the Delhi airport for allegedly carrying four live bullets in his bag without authorisation, official sources said today, according to NDTV.com.

The man, identified as S Siddiqui, was going through security checks at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport yesterday when a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel detected bullet-like objects in his hand baggage, they said.

Four live bullets were recovered from his bag, they said, adding Siddiqui was travelling to Kuwait.

He was handed over to the police as he could not produce valid documents for carrying the bullets, they said. Carrying arms and ammunition on board an aircraft without authorisation is banned.

Deadline ends:

The grace period within which the offices for domestic workers are expected to hand over sealed envelopes of their quotations to the committee formed by Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalid Al-Rawdan to set the price for hiring domestic workers from outside Kuwait ended Monday, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily quoting sources added the committee received the envelopes of 20 offices out of nearly 300 domestic workers offices, including Durra Company for Domestics. Sources noted the committee will open the envelopes soon and compare the prices of different offices with that of Al-Durra Company and come up with a suitable for all.

They also said the committee will consult relevant establishments, including the embassies of countries where the domestic workers are coming from to ensure they arrive at fair prices that will be beneficial to all parties, while putting a stop to overstated prices that drain the pockets of citizens.

Absconder nabbed:

Mubarak AlKabeer securitymen arrested a Kuwaiti man wanted by law for involvement in criminal cases, failure to settle debt amounting to KD11,000, consuming drugs and dodging one-year imprisonment sentence.

In a statement to the press, a security source disclosed the officers patrolling Qurain Markets noticed the suspicious behavior of the Kuwaiti so they asked him to stop for inspection.

When the officers checked his security records, they found out the citizen is wanted by law.

He tried to escape when the officers told him to get into the police vehicle, but the officers requested for backup and this led to his arrest.

A case was registered and the citizen was referred to the concerned security unit for legal measures.

Cable thieves held:

Security operatives from Farwaniya apprehended two Egyptians for stealing copper cables and iron rods from construction sites, says Al-Seyassah.

The officers came across a truck load of iron rods and copper cables, and the truck driver with his companion confessed stealing the items to sell in Amghara scrap yard. They were referred to concerned authorities.

Meanwhile, officers from the same unit nabbed an Asian in possession of 10 stolen pipes. He admitted stealing the pipes from various homes to sell them cheap.

3 held with drugs:

Police have arrested three young men -- a Kuwaiti, a GCC citizen and a bedoun) for possessing and consuming alcohol, reports Al-Anba daily. The trio was caught drinking inside the parking lot of a well-known commercial complex in Farwaniya. The daily added, the arrest came after the complex administration informed the police.

At the time of arrest the men were abnormal.

Police have seized from their car a bottle of imported booze. The men have been referred to the General Department for Drugs Control. Ministry of Interior Undersecretary Lieutenant Mahmoud Al-Dousari received in his office on Monday United Nations representative and Head of the UN Regional Office on Drugs and Crime in GCC Countries Dr Hatem Fua’ad and his accompanying