Opening Files on «Grave Forgery»
- Uncovered forgery cases, some dating back more than 50 years
- The death of those involved or the flight of forgers does not prevent their exposure
The investigation system led by the Supreme Committee for the Verification of Kuwaiti Citizenship, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, continues its success in exposing forgers and those impersonating Kuwaiti citizens, confirming that no file is immune from exposure and no fake identity can withstand conclusive evidence, including DNA fingerprinting, official documents, and recorded confessions.
Through precise inquiries and an integrated system of evidence combining old official records and documents, entry and exit movements, Kuwaiti and Gulf registers, and DNA tests, the committee continues to review citizenship files and purge them of forgery and identity impersonation cases, decisively severing false kinship ties and revealing identities that had remained hidden for decades.
Sources familiar with the matter told Al-Rai details of four intertwined cases, some of which trace their roots back more than half a century. Kuwaiti criminal investigation officers successfully unraveled their complexities and identified the true identities of those involved, despite the death of some parties and the flight of others abroad. These cases revealed instances of identity impersonation, illegal additions to citizenship files, and paternity verification rulings exploited to obtain official documents contrary to the truth, along with derivative beneficiaries who enjoyed rights and privileges without justification for many years.
In the first case, a death report dating back to 1977, a burial declaration preserved in Kuwait Municipality records, and the burial site of a Kuwaiti child who died at the age of two years and four months led to the exposure of a Gulf national who assumed the child’s identity in 1987. He used this identity while serving in the National Guard until his retirement, and added nine children to his file. Investigators proved his true identity by tracking residential addresses, locating his Gulf national brother who shared the same residence, and conducting a DNA test that confirmed their relationship. Additionally, the deceased child’s siblings confessed that their late father had registered his Gulf friend’s son under the name of their deceased son.
The second case revealed a naturalized citizen who obtained Kuwaiti citizenship in 1965, then added five of his Syrian brothers’ sons to his file, claiming them as his own. Among them was an officer who rose through the ranks of the Ministry of Interior to reach a high military rank and assume the position of area commander, before investigations and DNA testing proved the falsity of his claimed kinship to his uncle, who was registered as his father. The committee decided to revoke his citizenship and that of his 14 dependents (sons and daughters). Investigations also revealed that his brother, registered among the undocumented residents (“Bidoon”), holds Syrian citizenship, while examinations of the remaining three cases are ongoing.
In the third case, the flight of a Gulf national outside Kuwait two years ago did not prevent investigators from establishing his true name and scientifically determining his lineage. A review of paternity verification witnesses, an inventory of heirs, and movement through border crossings and Gulf registers revealed that he did not legitimately acquire citizenship in 1968 as the son of a Kuwaiti citizen. The DNA sample preserved by criminal evidence authorities resolved the case, proving that he is not the brother of the sons of the Kuwaiti citizen registered as his father. The number of his dependents whose citizenship was revoked reached 153, bringing the total number of dependents affected by revocation orders in his file and his brother’s file to 282, excluding the two brothers themselves.
The nationality investigations in the fourth case have closed the file on a fraud operation carried out by a Gulf national born in 1979, who assumed the identity of a Kuwaiti citizen born in 1985. He exploited a court ruling establishing paternity to obtain a birth certificate and have himself added to the nationality file, subsequently securing a national ID card and official documents. Despite his flight from the country, investigators located his sister, a Gulf national residing in Kuwait. DNA comparison of her samples with those of two of his sons confirmed that she was their aunt and their father’s sister. This finding was further corroborated by official Gulf documents pertaining to the fugitive and one of his sons, which reinforced evidence regarding his true identity and nationality.
