A Kuwaiti criminal court has imposed a seven-year prison term on a municipal worker and an Indian citizen. The pair were linked to a network accused of moving subsidised diesel out of the country and selling it overseas.
Four other Indian defendants received one-month jail terms each. A customs officer, a sergeant from the Ministry of Interior and an Egyptian marketing manager were cleared of the charges.
Forged customs papers and diesel-filled containers
The charges centre on customs forgery and the resale abroad of diesel that the defendants had bought from the relevant authorities. Prosecutors’ claims are set out as allegations, and none has been proven in the source material.
According to the charges, the first three defendants are accused of helping an unidentified person falsify a customs declaration so that a diesel shipment could clear procedures and leave the country. Three more were allegedly responsible for readying containers and loading them with diesel for export and resale.
A further defendant faced accusations of taking part in the forgery, smuggling and sale of the fuel. The municipal employee, described as a public servant, was accused of falsifying official records, including two customs declarations and exit permits linked to the case.
How authorities uncovered the suspected export ring
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior earlier said its Criminal Security Sector had exposed an organised network suspected of illegally exporting petroleum products. The probe was carried out by the Financial Crimes Department and the Sea Ports Investigation Department, under the General Department of Criminal Investigation, working with the General Administration of Customs.
Authorities acted after receiving information that 10 containers prepared for export may not have held the goods declared as iron. Investigators then found petroleum products inside, and the authorities said the shipments were covered by two customs declarations registered under two commercial companies.
The case was then referred for legal proceedings. The court acquitted the three defendants identified as a customs officer, a Ministry of Interior sergeant and an Egyptian marketing manager, and sentenced the remaining defendants in line with its judgment.
