10-year prison sentence for 3 defendants in Palace Affairs funds case

In a deterrent judicial ruling, the Court of Appeal, presided over by Senior Judge Abdullah Al-Sanea and with Judges Saud Al-Mutairi and Bassam Al-Ghuwaini as members, annulled the acquittal of three citizens, two of whom held the status of public officials (a chairman of the board of directors of a joint-stock company and a board member, and the other a businessman). The court reconvicted each of them, sentencing them to 10 years in prison and fining them 9 million Kuwaiti dinars each, totaling 27 million dinars, while ordering all of them to repay approximately 4.5 million dinars, and dismissing the first and second defendants from their positions.

The case stems from allegations concerning the misappropriation and damage to the assets of a company in which the Public Authority for Housing Welfare participates, in the context of a real estate purchase deal in the United Kingdom using the company’s funds, despite irregularities and conflicts of interest, as concluded by investigations and expert reports.

The Public Prosecution accused the first and second defendants, considering them as public officials, of abusing their positions and concluding contracts that harmed the interests of their employer. This was done through the purchase of a plot of land in southeast Britain for an amount exceeding 4.5 million dinars. Case documents revealed that the first defendant held the position of chairman of the company’s board of directors and its executive committee, while the second defendant was a member of the board and the executive committee. The third defendant was accused of conspiring with them in committing the crime.

According to the charges, the executive committee approved the purchase of the property in 2017, before it later became apparent that the company from which the purchase was made did not own the property at the time the contract was signed. Furthermore, the company said to be acquiring the property had not been officially established until after the signing of the preliminary sales contract. Case documents also revealed relationships, ownership, and shared interests between some of the defendants and companies linked to the deal, as well as a failure to disclose these interests.

The first defendant was also accused of submitting a document to the company’s board of directors stating that the property had been registered in the company’s name, before investigations revealed that the document did not constitute an official certificate of real estate ownership registration in the United Kingdom.

The Criminal Court had previously acquitted the defendants, but the Court of Appeal reheard the case and referred it for expert evaluation, which concluded that irregularities and conflicts of interest were established. The experts also confirmed that the property in question has not yet been registered in favor of the state-participating company.

After reviewing the case and its included reports and documents, the Court of Appeal annulled the acquittal ruling and reconvicted the defendants, sentencing each to 10 years in prison and a fine of 9 million dinars, and ordering all of them to repay approximately 4.5 million dinars, in addition to dismissing the first and second defendants from their positions.