publish time

19/09/2020

author name Arab Times

publish time

19/09/2020

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 19 : A Kuwaiti man Naif Mansour Al-Hajri, through his Lawyer Saleh Al-Enezi, submitted a complaint to the Public Prosecution Department against the President of the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) Dr Abdullah Al-Ma’atouq, accusing him of embezzling about $26 million in public funds donated to construct mosques, schools and boreholes in Pakistan.

The plaintiff said the aforementioned projects were not executed, so he urged the court to sentence the defendant for seven years in prison, reports Al- Seyassah daily.

In his complaint, Lawyer Al-Enezi cited Articles 2 and 11 of the Public Funds Protection Law, which empower citizens to lodge complaints against public money-related crimes whenever they uncover such, indicating the refusal to complain is considered a crime in itself.

He explained that Pakistan experienced serious flood in 2010, which caused overwhelmingly devastating destruction. His Highness the Amir decided the country should donate to their brothers in Pakistan, so many Kuwaitis, including the Amir and several members of the ruling family donated $26 million towards the cause, afterwich Dr Al-Ma’atouq issued a statement to appreciate the goodwill.

He stressed that the defendant was supposed to spend the money on the construction of mosques, schools and boreholes, but those projects were not executed in reality, stressing there are documents to back the allegation.

He added that complaints were lodged against the IICO in Pakistan over the failure to execute the projects. He revealed there was an official correspondence from the Pakistani government to the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Pakistan to ensure the financial violation was dealt with. He also said the Pakistani officials have filed lawsuits over the incident with certain concerned international organizations such as the United Nations Anti- Corruption Office, Money Laundering and Smuggling Office in Pakistan, and the High Court of Pakistan.