Jail commuted to dismissal, fine in fraud case
Finance officer steals patients money
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 8: The Court of Appeals overturned the ruling of the First Instance Court which sentenced a female citizen who served as finance officer at the Kuwait Health Office in Washington, to seven years in prison, obligated her to return the money she took illegally – $875,000 and fined her twice the embezzled amount.
The higher court then ruled on the dismissal of the accused and fined her KD20,000. This came after changing the description of the charges to causing accidental damage to the Health Ministry’s funds.
In 2015, American authorities charged the accused with money laundering after the FBI arrested her at an American airport as she was supposed to return to Kuwait. She was under house arrest for months.
Kuwaiti authorities suspected her of committing violations, so they assigned a team of financial auditors to check the documents in the health office in Washington. The team found out a number of violations including fake hospital vouchers and fake medical procedures done for Kuwaitis. The team discovered that money was received for such procedures and that the accused forged the signature of a number of Kuwaiti patients and stole most of the money allocated for them, leaving small amounts for the patients. Thus, the Ministry of Health referred the accused to Public Prosecution.
The accused was taken to the Central Jail upon her arrival in Kuwait as per the warrant issued by the prosecution.
Top officer cheated: Police are looking for an unidentified Egyptian man for allegedly cheating a Kuwaiti – retired senior police officer with the rank of Lieutenant General, reports Al-Rai daily.
The victim told the security authorities that he knows the suspect and he encouraged him to share him in a profitable business and when he paid part of the investment (first money in advance), the suspect delayed to start the project.
When I asked him why there is a delay, he sometimes argued the paperwork was not complete and sometimes said the time was not right until one day disappeared and closed his cell phone, the victim said.
The source added the Kuwaiti later realized that there was no project and that he was lured into a trap by the man whom he trusted.
Police assaulted: A Kuwaiti man born in 1988 has been arrested and detained at the Sabah Al-Ahmed Police Station for attempting to murder and insulting a policeman in uniform while on duty, reports Al-Anba daily.
According to the complainant he was in a patrol car on a security mission in Sabah Al-Ahmed residential area the suspect was told to pull over.
To the surprise of the police, the man got out of his car, removed the ignition key from the patrol car, threw it on the ground and attacked the policeman injuring him under the ear.