Kuwait court sentences former minister to prison for secret expenditures

Kuwait's Court of Cassation has handed down a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 3,000 dinars ($9,700) to former Minister Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The conviction relates to incidents involving secret expenditures during his tenure.

This ruling follows a previous sentencing by Kuwait's Ministers Court on January 14, 2025. In that case, Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled was sentenced to 14 years in prison for embezzling funds from both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior. The court ordered him to repay around 10 million dinars and imposed a substantial fine of 20 million dinars.

In the Ministry of Defense expenditure case, Sheikh Talal received a seven-year jail term, was ordered to return 500,000 dinars, fined one million dinars, and dismissed from his post. An expatriate co-defendant in this case received a four-year sentence, a fine of 294,000 dinars, and expulsion from Kuwait.

Regarding the Ministry of Interior expenditures, Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled was sentenced to another seven years in prison, ordered to return 9 million dinars, and fined 19 million dinars. Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 59, previously held significant positions, including First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior from October 16, 2022, to January 17, 2024.