KUWAIT CITY, May 3: In a significant judicial ruling targeting fraudulent acquisition of Kuwaiti citizenship, the Criminal Court, presided over by Counselor Abdul Wahab Al-Muaili, sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen and a Syrian national to seven years in prison for conspiring to falsely register the Syrian's son under the Kuwaiti’s nationality file.

The court also sentenced the son, a soldier who had served in both the Ministry of Interior and previously in the Ministry of Defense, to 10 years in prison. He was ordered to repay 111,000 Kuwaiti dinars and fined an additional 223,000 dinars. Another individual, employed at Kuwait Municipality and identified as the second son of a Syrian national, was spared jail time but ordered to return 38,000 dinars and fined 77,000 dinars. The court further ruled on the deportation of the Syrian father and his son after completion of their sentences.

The case emerged following intelligence indicating a forged citizenship arrangement. Investigations uncovered an agreement between the Kuwaiti citizen and the Syrian father to unlawfully include two Syrian sons in the Kuwaiti’s citizenship file, allowing them to unlawfully access benefits reserved for Kuwaiti nationals.

Testimony from a witness, revealed to be the brother of the accused, confirmed the fraud. He admitted knowing that his two elder brothers were of Syrian nationality and had assumed Kuwaiti identities from a young age. DNA tests later confirmed their biological relationship.

The Kuwaiti citizen had allegedly submitted falsified birth certificates from a Gulf country in 2003 to include the two Syrian sons, born in 1990 and 1992, under his family file. Despite their denial, both men were found guilty of impersonation and forgery.

Authorities revealed that the falsely registered brothers had secured government employment and received benefits such as rent allowances, marriage grants, and work-related loans, all of which are exclusive to legitimate Kuwaiti citizens.