107 carrying forged citizenship

KUWAIT CITY, July 18: The Nationality Investigations Department has uncovered a complex citizenship forgery case involving two individuals who obtained Kuwaiti citizenship in 1980 based on false statements, documents, and certificates, with the fraud later confirmed through DNA testing and investigations, reports Al-Rai daily. According to the investigation findings, 107 individuals had obtained Kuwaiti citizenship through this file, including 76 individuals born in 1945 and 31 individuals born in 1947. The case began when a Kuwaiti citizen who had obtained citizenship through legal procedures and registered his children on his file submitted a request in 1980, following the issuance of Law No. 100/1980, to add two individuals as his sons. At the time, DNA testing was not available, so the applicant provided official documents, estimated ages, and witness testimonies to support his claim. Based on the submitted evidence, the two individuals were granted Kuwaiti citizenship at the ages of 35 and 33.

Months ago, information emerged suggesting that the two individuals were not the sons of the Kuwaiti citizen and that their citizenship had been obtained through fraudulent claims and false statements. The Nationality Investigations Department conducted inquiries and confirmed the accuracy of the information. A review of the 1975 census, conducted at the request of the Criminal Investigation Department, revealed that two names matched the first names of the individuals who later obtained citizenship, while the remaining details corresponded with those of a Bedoun person. The 1980 census, however, listed the two individuals as Kuwaiti citizens after they had obtained citizenship. Further examination of the 1980 census records of the Bedoun individual found that the two individuals previously listed as members of his family in the 1975 census were no longer recorded under his file and had instead been registered as sons of the Kuwaiti citizen.