Kuwait court jails former co-op director for five years over embezzlement

A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a former marketing director of the Sulaibikhat and Doha Cooperative Society to five years in prison with hard labor for embezzling funds and goods. The court also ordered the individual to repay KD 105,069.

The Public Prosecution charged the marketing director and other officials with stealing goods valued at KD93,789. They were found to be selling these items outside the cooperative and failing to deposit the sales into its account. The marketing director also faces accusations of misappropriating the value of two invoices totaling KD11,280.

However, the court acquitted contracted directors, the former board chairman, and an employee of complicity in the crime. In separate rulings, the court fined one defendant KD 3,000 for abusing his authority and causing financial damage. Another defendant received a KD 5,000 fine for abusing his authority, harming the cooperative's interests, and failing to submit an administrative investigation document.

These investigations were initiated based on reports from the Ministry of Social Affairs and oversight reports detailing financial and administrative violations at the cooperative between January 2022 and August 2023.