Senior Kuwaiti Officials Monitor Raffle Draw Amid Fraud Concerns
Senior Kuwaiti government officials have shown up at the final draw of a major raffle after a recent suspected fraud that rocked the country and prompted massive investigations.
The final raffle draw for this year's Ya Hala Shopping Festival was held on Saturday in the presence of the presence of Kuwait's Acting Prime Minister Fahad Al Youssef and Minister of Commerce Khalifa Al Ajeel, and under the supervision of a committee from the ministry.
The festival's public relations head, Abdulrahman Al Badah, said the committee was formed under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce to conduct the final draw of the high-profile Kuwaiti festival, which ran from January 21 to March 31.
More than 350 coupon boxes were collected from shopping malls across Kuwait in the lead-up to the draw, according to Al Badah. A total of 24 cars and $200,000 were at the centre of the final draw.
The fraud case erupted in public last month after a video circulated on social media showing a person suspiciously acting during the draw.
The Interior Ministry identified the person in the footage as a Kuwaiti citizen acting as the head of the draws department at the Ministry of Commerce.
Investigations found out that he had exploited his position to systematically manipulate draws for prizes offered by companies, thus ensuring they will go to specific persons in exchange for financial benefits, the ministry added.
The public prosecution said intensive investigations had revealed six people, including five expatriates, had been involved in 'serious crimes' including forging official documents, bribery, facilitating the seizure of state funds and money laundering causing 'significant harm' to the country's national interests.
The prosecution added that it has issued several arrest and search warrants for six suspects and three international arrest warrants for other suspects who had fled the country.
Last week, Kuwait's chief prosecutor ordered investigations into the case be confidential and imposed a ban on reporting about them to protect the course of the inquiry.
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