Kuwait’s Court of Cassation on Thursday concluded the country's largest money laundering case, known as the “Malaysian Fund” scandal.
The court, led by Judge Saleh Al-Muraishid, sentenced Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak, son of the former Prime Minister, and his associates Hamad Al-Wazzan, Bashar Kiwan, and two expatriates to 10 years in prison.
A lawyer involved in the case received a seven-year sentence.
The court also ordered the defendants to return $1 billion and collectively fined them 145 million Kuwaiti dinars (about $500 million).
The “Malaysian Fund” case involves fake transactions and forged contracts between companies in Kuwait and China. Investigators from Malaysia and the US estimate that around $4.5 billion was embezzled from the fund since 2009, implicating the former Malaysian prime minister.
Kuwait’s Public Prosecution reopened the case after a two-year pause due to lack of information.
On March 28, 2023, the Criminal Court sentenced a member of the ruling family, his associates, and two expatriates to 10 years in prison, with a lawyer receiving seven years.
They were ordered to return $1 billion and fined 145 million Kuwaiti dinars.
The original case in Malaysia dates back to 2016 when US prosecutors filed a lawsuit to recover over $1 billion allegedly tied to a conspiracy to launder money from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, overseen by former Malaysian premier Najib Razak.
The funds were used to finance a Hollywood film, buy real estate, and acquire famous artworks.
In May 2020, the scandal surfaced in Kuwait after US defense officials provided information to the late Kuwaiti Defense Minister, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad, revealing the involvement of several former officials in suspicious financial transactions for Chinese and Malaysian companies.
Investigations in Kuwait showed nearly $1 billion had been transferred into the account of an influential Kuwaiti figure before being rerouted abroad.
The inquiry linked a Malaysian financial expert accused in the case to the son of a former Kuwaiti Prime Minister, and they collaborated to channel the funds through intermediary companies.
On July 10, 2020, Kuwait’s Public Prosecution ordered the arrest of Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak and his associate in connection with the “Malaysian Fund” case.
