Fake sheikh gets 4-year jail in major fraud
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 11: A harsh court ruling was issued against a prisoner who impersonated prominent sheikhs from the ruling family and businessmen, and was able to obtain millions of dinars from famous people, sports players and artists, while he was inside Central Prison, reports AlQabas daily.
In its ruling, the Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Abdullah Al-Othman, sentenced the inmate to four-year imprisonment with hard labor, and obliged him to return the money, which amounts to more than KD 4 million, that he managed to swindle through the operations he carried out from inside his cell in the Central Prison.
The court also sentenced seven other defendants with varying jail terms, considering two among them as his accomplices. They were charged with money laundering, because they were aware of his management of the fraud operations while he was in prison.
The court rejected all pleas made by the defendants after being convinced beyond reasonable doubt that all the procedures for his arrest while he was running his operations using his mobile devices inside the Central Prison were done correctly, in addition to how he spent the money that he swindled.
The Criminal Court also decided to refer the case to the Civil Court, where compensation for the victims was requested and the size of the damages was measured.
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The Court of Appeals held its first trial session on the “Ministry of Interior Hospitality” case filed against a number of individuals including officials from the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Finance, reports Al-Anba daily.
Presiding over the session was Judge Nasser Al-Hayed who postponed the two appeals filed by the defendants and the prosecution until Nov 4 for presentation of the defense and bringing the defense witnesses.
The session witnessed the presence of all the defendants, except for the third one who was acquitted, and two others who are suspected of being infected with the COVID-19 virus.
The defense team demanded the postponement of the case be postponed, and submitted requests for the release of their clients on bail but they were all rejected by the court.
It is worth mentioning that the Criminal Court has convicted most of the defendants in this case with varying prison sentences and fines. This prompted the defendants to appeal against ruling and demand the annulment of their conviction and re-trail. The prosecution appealed this ruling against those who were acquitted or had reduced sentences and demanded conviction and tougher sentences.