KUWAIT CITY, June 2: The Criminal Court has issued its verdict in a high-profile theft and money laundering case involving the embezzlement of more than KD 800,000 from a jewelry company. Four individuals, an Indian expat employee of the company, a Pakistani jewelry vendor, a Kuwaiti woman, and her daughter, were convicted in connection with the crime.
The court sentenced the Indian employee, who was present during the proceedings, and the Pakistani vendor, who was tried in absentia, to 10 years of imprisonment with hard labor. The Kuwaiti woman was sentenced to five years with hard labor, while her daughter received a five-year suspended sentence, conditional upon a KD 5,000 bail. All four defendants were jointly fined KD 809,000. Additionally, the court referred the civil lawsuit filed by the affected jewelry company to the appropriate judicial authority.
Investigations revealed that the Indian employee had been systematically stealing jewelry, gold ornaments, and cash from the company over a period extending from 2002 until the end of 2024. Upon his arrest, he confessed to working with a Pakistani vendor who sold the stolen items and later fled the country. He also implicated a Kuwaiti woman and her daughter, accusing them of inciting and participating in the theft.
The case highlights the importance of internal oversight in high-value sectors and reinforces Kuwait’s commitment to prosecuting financial crimes and protecting commercial entities from internal fraud.