KUWAIT CITY, May 8: The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling by the Criminal Court acquitting an employee at the Kuwait International Airport Passports Department, who had been accused of falsifying passenger entry and exit records in the Ministry of Interior's automated system. The accusations stemmed from the escape of a wanted fugitive who allegedly used a passport resembling that of the employee.

The ruling, however, did include sentencing the fugitive (in absentia) and his lookalike to four years in prison with hard labor. The court also ordered their deportation after they completed their sentences.

The case dates back to July 2024 when a detective arrested a fugitive with a history of fraud charges. The fugitive, however, was nowhere to be found. Upon questioning the fugitive’s mother, it was revealed that he had left the country using a passport that closely resembled his lookalike’s.

During investigations, the lookalike admitted to lending his passport to the fugitive, who had a striking resemblance to him. The fugitive requested the passport in late 2023, and the lookalike handed it over, only to retrieve it a week after the fugitive’s departure. The lookalike also confirmed that he was aware of the fugitive’s criminal background, including his fraud charges.

The employee, however, denied any wrongdoing. He testified that he had properly documented the passport's movement when the fugitive appeared before him, confirming the individual’s information before his departure. He claimed that he was unaware of any discrepancy and did not realize the passport was not the rightful owner’s due to the striking similarity between the two individuals.

In court, the employee's defense attorney, Abdullah Al-Bulaihis, argued that there was no criminal intent behind his client's actions, as the essential elements of the forgery crime were absent. He maintained that the employee had no prior knowledge of the fugitive and that there was no conclusive evidence linking him to any intentional alteration of the entry and exit records. Al-Bulaihis also presented a document proving that biometric fingerprint checks were not in place at Kuwait Airport during the incident and highlighted the similarities between the lookalike and the fugitive. He called for his client’s acquittal, which the court ultimately granted.