Former PM’s son sought to buy Malaysian land the size of Kuwait City

SABAH SOUGHT TO BUY MALAYSIAN LAND THE SIZE OF KUWAIT CITY

Arrested on charges of money laundering, influence peddling and squandering public funds, Shaikh Sabah Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, son of the former prime minister, had sought to buy land the size of Kuwait City in Malaysia for 200 million dinars ($654 million), Kuwaiti media reported.

Shaikh Sabah and his business partner Hamad Al Wazzan, were arrested on July 8.

A travel ban has also been issued against him.

Transfer of money

The money was transferred to Malaysia, but it was frozen after Mahathir Mohammad’s party won the elections and he was appointed prime minister. The subsequent investigation into corruption, known as the Malaysian Sovereign Fund case, led to the arrest of former prime Minister Najib Abdul Razzaq, sources told Al Qabas.

The sources pointed out that the foreign bank in Kuwait that transferred the funds to Malaysia remained silent about this huge transfer.

The prosecution came to the decision after reviewing all bank documents and financial transactions, linking him to the 1MBD case.

Sources said that during interrogation, Shaikh Sabah insisted that Al Wazan be present, saying, “He was my financial adviser.”

Suspicion of collusion

In 2018, the Financial Intelligence Unit sent a letter to the security services about the transfer of the huge sum of money to Malaysia.

The sources said inaction by the Kuwait’s Financial Intelligence Unit may indicate suspicion of collusion with Sheikh Sabah.

Last month, the Public Prosecution obtained files of three Kuwaiti companies that were indicted on charges of money laundering in relation to the 1MBD case.

In May, the Cabinet was investigating media reports that presumably linked Kuwaitbased companies to a Chinese company and the former Malaysian government.

Series of scandals

There have been a series of corruption scandals in Kuwait in the last few months, from the 1MBD scandal to the arrest of a Bangladeshi MP for human trafficking and money laundering. Last month, the Emir expressed his concerns regarding Kuwait’s image as a ‘hotbed of corruption’.

The prime minister also addressed the issue of corruption as he said, “nobody will be protected by their position or name if they have committed a crime”.