Civil Servant Who Collected 500 Million Won Without Working for 10 Years Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison and Fined 1.5 Billion Won

Supreme Court: "Long-term Unauthorized Absence and Receipt of Public Funds Are Clear"

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A Kuwaiti civil servant who received a salary for ten years without ever reporting to work has been sentenced to prison.

According to Gulf News and other sources on December 3, the Supreme Court of Kuwait sentenced a civil servant, identified as A, to five years in prison and imposed a fine of 312,000 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately 1.49 billion won) for illegally receiving a salary over the past ten years. This amount is nearly three times the 104,000 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately 497 million won) that A illegally received as salary.

A is accused of collecting monthly wages without working from March 2013 to July 2023, a period of about ten years. This fact came to light belatedly through an internal audit and investigation. Subsequently, authorities filed criminal charges against A for illegal embezzlement and misuse of public funds.

While lower courts and the appellate court had acquitted A, the Supreme Court overturned the previous rulings, stating, "A's long-term unauthorized absence and receipt of public funds are clear." Kuwaiti authorities commented on the ruling, saying it is "part of efforts to protect state funds and prevent administrative corruption." Recently, the Kuwaiti government has been implementing policies to crack down on payroll fraud and illegal benefit claims in the public sector.

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