The Kuwaiti Court of Cassation, today (Thursday), sentenced the former minister Mubarak Al-Arrou, the former Ministry of Social Affairs undersecretary Abdul Aziz Shaib, the former head of the Union of Cooperative Societies, and a Gulf merchant to 7 years in prison in a “favoritism” case for the benefit of a company, in a tender known as a deal to purchase artificial intelligence programs for use in cooperative societies.
The Court of Ministers, chaired by Counselor Hani Al-Hamdan, had ruled on November 21, 2023, to sentence the former Minister of Social Affairs Mubarak Al-Arrou, the former undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the former director of the Union of Cooperative Societies to 7 years in prison with labor and confiscation, and to dismiss them from their positions. The fourth accused, the company owner, received the same punishment along with deportation (as a Gulf national), and the main charge against Minister Al-Arrou was his agreement with the company owned by the fourth accused to conclude a contract including a system for monitoring products in cooperative societies, which was not implemented. The contract was considered a facade for profiteering at the expense of public funds.
On May 2, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal submitted by the former Minister Mubarak Al-Arrou in this case, as well as his and the other defendants’ release, and ordered the arrest of the former minister and the former deputy Mubarak Zaid Al-Arrou Al-Mutairi upon their return to the country through Kuwait Airport.
It is worth mentioning that the Kuwaiti Court of Appeals ruled on April 28 last, to refrain from punishing the former deputy and minister Mubarak Al-Arrou and his brother, and annulled the two-year prison sentence in a case of vote-buying during the parliamentary elections, after the Criminal Court had sentenced Al-Arrou to two years in prison with labor and confiscation and sentenced two employees working in his electoral campaign to one year in prison with labor and confiscation, and fined two other defendants 2000 dinars in a case of vote-buying during the 2022 parliamentary elections in the third district.
Former deputy Mubarak Zaid Al-Arrou Al-Mutairi (46 years old) served as a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly (2020) and held the position of Minister of Social Affairs, Social Development, and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development from December 28, 2021, to August 1, 2022.
Former Deputies Sentenced
On the other hand, the Criminal Court ordered the arrest of the former deputy Hamad Al-Olayan, and detained him pending a state security case, after the former deputy Al-Olayan was charged with encroaching on the Prince’s powers and criticizing his decisions. Al-Olayan appeared before the court today in the first trial session and denied the charges against him.
The Criminal Court also sentenced the former deputy Abdullah Fahad to 6 months in prison with labor and confiscation, in a case of contempt of court, through a televised press interview, and also fined the interview’s producer 500 dinars (approximately $1600).
Malaysian Fund
The Court of Cassation decided to extend the judgment date in the largest money laundering cases known in Kuwait, the “Malaysian Fund,” until June 27, the current year.
The Public Prosecution reopened the “Malaysian Fund” case after a two-year hiatus due to the delay in receiving information from international sources. The Criminal Court had sentenced a member of the ruling family (a Sheikh), his partner, and two expatriates to 10 years in prison on March 28, 2023, and sentenced a lawyer to 7 years in prison, and obligated them to return a billion dollars and collectively fined them 145 million Kuwaiti dinars (equivalent to half a billion dollars).
