KUWAIT CITY, Nov 24: The Court of Cassation on Monday sentenced an employee at the Citizen Service Center in the Ministry of Interior to five years imprisonment with hard labor for embezzling KD104,000 in salaries he received during a 10-year period of absence from work. The court overturned the acquittal decisions in the two previous appeals and ordered the dismissal of the defendant from public office. He was also ordered to return the full amount he unlawfully obtained, in addition to paying a fine double the amount, bringing the total fine to KD312,000. The court emphasized in its reasoning that the employee’s action is considered misappropriation of public funds with malicious intent and abuse of his public office. It stressed that the salaries he received without working is an attack on State funds, and that the punishment is necessary to serve as general deterrence and to protect public money.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud/Munif Naif Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff