State Security Appeals Court Issues Sentences in Money Laundering and State Security Cases
The Court of Appeal’s State Security Division, presided over by Advisor Abdullah Al-Sanea and with the participation of Advisors Mohammed Jaafar and Saud Al-Mutairi, issued several rulings in cases involving money laundering, appeals against the rights of His Highness the Amir, and affiliation with the “Daesh” (ISIS) organization.
In the first case, the court upheld the 10-year prison sentences for 21 defendants of various nationalities in a money laundering case involving 17 commercial companies and the forgery of banking documents. The defendants were fined 202 million Kuwaiti dinars, equivalent to double the illicit funds, and the companies were fined 101 million Kuwaiti dinars, representing the value of the illicit funds. These rulings followed investigations by the State Security Apparatus and the Financial Investigations Unit.
The prosecution accused the defendants of forming a terrorist group and laundering more than 101 million dinars, derived from crimes harming the national interests of the country, forgery of banking documents, and establishing shell companies to collect expatriates’ salaries in Kuwait and transfer them to Syria. They were also accused of conducting banking activities without legal justification and laundering illicit funds through goods imported from China, subsequently transferring the money back to the companies’ accounts.
In the second case, the court upheld the 10-year prison sentences for one Kuwaiti national and two Egyptians, fining them 199.588 million dinars, and imposing fines of 99 million dinars on commercial entities representing the value of the money laundering proceeds. The court also banned them from engaging in commercial activities permanently, while acquitting one Kuwaiti national and two Egyptians.
The defendants were accused of conducting unlicensed banking activities by trading in foreign currencies for expatriates’ salaries in Kuwait and transferring them to individuals in Egypt, by depositing the funds into company accounts as legitimate revenues and profits, thereby harming the country’s national interests.
The defendants were apprehended following investigations and an ambush operation conducted by the General Administration for Combating Terrorism and Money Laundering, in cooperation with the Criminal Execution Investigations Department.
Precise security investigations, following the tracking of fund movements, revealed the defendants’ involvement in multiple criminal offenses through coordination with several traders in various friendly and sister countries. This resulted in harm to the financial and economic systems, as well as a weakening of trust in the banking systems of those countries and Kuwait.
The court upheld a three-year prison sentence for a Twitter user for publicly appealing against the rights of His Highness the Amir, insulting judicial officials, and undermining their integrity and impartiality. However, it upheld the acquittal regarding the offense against Egypt.
The court also upheld a 10-year prison sentence for a Kuwaiti national for joining “Daesh,” promoting the organization’s terrorist and takfiri ideologies on social media, receiving training on manufacturing explosives via the “Telegram” platform, and attempting to procure a suicide vest with the intent of carrying out a terrorist attack against a community segment in Kuwait, as well as publicly appealing against the rights of His Highness the Amir and insulting the Amir’s dignity.
State Security Apparatus investigations indicated that the defendant pledged allegiance to “Daesh” leadership and received instructions to carry out terrorist attacks against a community segment. However, he failed to execute the plot after his arrest. During investigations, he confessed to embracing the terrorist ideology, supporting bombing operations, and targeting places of worship.
