Kuwait: Two military personnel nabbed in bribery scam

Cairo: Two military personnel have been arrested for suspected involvement in a bribery case at a border crossing.

Both are accused of conducting false transactions related to recording entry and exit data in return for money at the Nuwaisib crossing on the border with Saudi Arabia, according to the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry.

The case surfaced after close security follow-up that exposed an illegal agreement to offer money in exchange for making fake transactions on the facility’s computer system, the ministry said.

Ensuing investigations resulted in the arrest of the pair involved, who acknowledged to the deal, it added.
Investigations also showed the money agreed upon was estimated at KD100 ($325) for each fictitious transaction. It was not immediately clear if other accomplices and beneficiaries from these transactions were arrested too.

In recent months, Kuwait has reported exposing several law-enforcers implicated in wrongdoing in different cases.

Last month, a Kuwaiti court sentenced an officer and a soldier to five years in prison each after convicting them in a drug case.
The defendants, an officer at the Interior Ministry and a soldier at the Defence Ministry, were convicted of taking drugs, Kuwaiti news portal Almajilis reported without further details.

Also last month, a Kuwaiti court handed down a policeman five years in prison on charges of bribery and abuse of power to frame and deport expatriates.

The Al Seyassah newspaper reported that the criminal court also ordered the policeman, a Kuwaiti national, to pay a fine of KD 2,000.
The defendant was accused of exploiting his position at a police station by demanding bribes and blackmailing Asian expatriates by allegedly fabricated charges of alcohol trafficking against them and detaining them unlawfully.

The Interior Ministry previously stated that the officer had been arrested for abusing his authority and accepting bribes in exchange for detaining members of the Asian community and deporting them based on false charges of alcohol trafficking.