Criminal Court: Five Gulf nationals sentenced to seven years in prison, one to three years, and a girl exempted from punishment for forging Kuwaiti nationality
The Criminal Court sentenced five defendants to seven years in prison and another defendant to three years in prison with hard labor, both sentences to be served, and exempted a female defendant from punishment on charges of forging Kuwaiti nationality. The court also ordered the return of the proceeds obtained and the payment of an amount equal to twice that sum.
The officer in charge of the case at the Nationality and Passports Department testified that his investigations, following information received from a confidential source, revealed an agreement between the first defendant, a Kuwaiti national, and the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh defendants. Under this agreement, the first defendant was to add the other defendants, who are Gulf nationals impersonating Kuwaitis, to his nationality file so they could enjoy all the benefits associated with Kuwaiti citizenship.
He added that his investigations revealed that the first defendant enabled them to assume the identities of his sons by appearing at the General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents and providing false information to the relevant officer, taking advantage of his good faith. After the first defendant submitted a request to add the names of the defendants under the assumed identities, those names were added, and Kuwaiti documents were issued to them accordingly.
He further stated that his investigations revealed that the aforementioned defendants had been employed in various government ministries. The investigations also showed that each of the defendants had visited the General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents to renew their Kuwaiti passports under the previously mentioned assumed names.
He added that the consequences of the defendants’ assumption of status and their acquisition of Kuwaiti nationality through forgery were that they benefited from privileges reserved exclusively for Kuwaitis. The defendants’ intent was to forge official documents and appropriate those privileges.
