Nine Syrians sentenced to 10 years in one of the largest money laundering cases
"State Security Crimes Court" fines them and two companies 6.8 million dinars and orders their permanent closure
The State Security Crimes and Terrorism Court sentenced a criminal gang consisting of nine Syrian nationals to 10 years in prison, after convicting them in one of the largest money laundering cases. The court fined them and two companies engaged in general trade and the sale of perfumes and incense 6.884 million dinars, and ordered the permanent closure of the two companies, prohibiting them from engaging in any commercial activity, while acquitting two defendants.
The court, presided over by Advisor Nasser Al-Badr and with the membership of Advisors Omar Al-Mulifi, Abdullah Al-Fahad, and Salem Al-Zaid, issued its verdict after proving that the defendants committed crimes of money laundering and harming the national interests of the country.
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The Public Prosecution clarified that the defendants formed an organized criminal group that carried out money laundering operations exceeding 2.294 million dinars, derived from crimes of harming national interests, forgery of bank documents, fraud, and conducting exchange business without a license.
Investigations revealed that members of the network lured their victims through advertisements for selling food products on social media sites, then sent them electronic payment links belonging to stores within Kuwait with values different from the purchase amounts. The funds were used to buy various goods, which were received by agents with good intentions, then resold and converted into cash.
Investigations further added that the funds were collected and deposited into personal bank accounts and accounts belonging to two companies as commercial revenues, before being transferred to accounts outside Kuwait in China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, to purchase heavy equipment sent to Syria and registered there, with the aim of concealing the illicit source of the funds.
The defendants were also convicted of establishing and operating an illegal financial system outside official supervision, thereby harming the state’s national interests and exposing its financial standing and credit rating to risks, in addition to conducting banking activities without a license from the Central Bank of Kuwait.
The charges also included misappropriating victims' funds through fraud and deception via the information network, by sending payment links specific to a jewelry store instead of the value of the food products, leading to the purchase of gold liras without the victims' knowledge, before transferring and trading them with a view to removing them from the country.
The court convicted three of the defendants of forgery of bank documents, after proving that incorrect data was entered into deposit notifications at the Kuwait Finance House, to present the funds as legitimate revenues for the two companies and the first defendant, despite their derivation from illegal activities, with the intent to legitimize them.
