KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti criminal court has sentenced a Kuwaiti doctor to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 345,000 Kuwaiti Dinars after he was found guilty of embezzling public funds. The court also dismissed the doctor from his position following revelations that he had fraudulently collected over 115,000 Dinars in salaries despite being absent from work for five years.

According to details provided by the Ministry of Health’s legal department, the doctor had been residing outside the country during the entire period of his unauthorized absence. Despite this, he continued to receive his full salary through alleged collusion with another employee within the ministry.

The court, however, acquitted the head of the department where the accused was previously employed. He had faced charges of negligence and failure to report the prolonged absence, which prosecutors claimed had caused significant financial losses to the Ministry of Health. The court ruled there was insufficient evidence to hold him accountable. The case has sparked renewed calls for tighter oversight and auditing of government payroll systems to prevent similar abuses of public funds.