MEW official gets 7-years in jail, dismissal from job, fine; Blackmail, bribery charges filed

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KUWAIT CITY, April 19: The Court of Appeals overturned the verdict issued by the Court of First Instance which acquitted an official from the Ministry of Electricity and Water in charges of blackmail and bribery. The court instead sentenced him to seven- year imprisonment with hard labor, dismissal from his job, and a fine of KD 210,000.

The official was accused of blackmailing the owner of a company that submitted a tender to replace the doors of electricity transformers in various parts of the country and demanding a bribe, as well as threatening the company owner of obstructing the company’s work and excluding it from the contract for executing the tender work if the bribe is not paid.

The complaint was submitted by the owner of the company to the Public Prosecution through Lawyer Muhammad Al-Sayegh, who confirmed that the accused blackmailed his client, threatened and enticed him into paying a bribe. He stressed that the accused forced his client to pay KD 105,000. Lawyer Al-Sayegh urged the court to punish the accused in accordance with the Penal Code. Earlier, the Public Prosecution charged the accused, who is a public employee working as the head of the civil works department in the Ministry os Electricity and Water – and those involved in supervising the works, of illegally obtaining a kickback of KD 105,000 from those works. By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies

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