Woman sentenced:

The Criminal Court presided over by Judge Mohammad Ghazi has sentenced a former Kuwaiti employee of the Accounts Division of Kuwaiti Health Office in Washington to seven-year imprisonment, ordered her to refund the misappropriated $875,000, imposed a fine of double that amount, and relieved of her job.

The court also sentenced another Kuwaiti employee of the same office to one-year imprisonment and ordered payment of KD 1,000 for suspending the execution of the verdict until the final ruling is pronounced.

The court ordered the submission of a copy of the investigations conducted on the embezzlements in the Health Office based on the allegation of a member of the royal family who holds a senior position there and whose name was mentioned as a beneficiary of some funds due to a claim of treatment.

It will be recalled that former Health minister Dr Jamal Al-Obaidi had referred the woman employee and two other employees for investigation in December last year over misappropriation of funds. Prior to that, the CIA held the woman for a few months ago on charges of money laundering and remitting suspicious funds prior to leaving Washington.