Kuwait Court of Appeal upholds sentences against illegal cross-border gambling network
The court sentenced the alleged main organiser to 15 years in prison.
Kuwait.- The Court of Appeal of Kuwait has upheld prison terms and imposed heavy financial penalties on members of an international network convicted of running illegal online gambling and laundering proceeds through shell companies and alternative remittance channels in the country, where gambling is prohibited
The State Security Division of the court sentenced the alleged main organiser, a Syrian national, to 15 years in prison for operating and managing an electronic betting platform and coordinating the movement of proceeds abroad. Two Egyptian defendants were each given seven-year prison terms for assisting in the network’s activities.
The court also imposed fines totalling KD16.839m (US$54.48m), in addition to further penalties against corporate entities involved in the scheme. Five shell companies identified as part of the network were fined more than KD25m (US$80.89m) collectively. Investigators said the companies were used as fronts to conceal illicit funds, issue false invoices, and simulate legitimate business transactions to justify the movement of gambling proceeds.
Court documents showed the network processed illegal gambling funds through multiple layers of transactions designed to conceal their origin. The funds were then moved internationally using alternative remittance methods that bypassed formal banking oversight. The court also ordered the closure of the companies linked to the case.
Due to insufficient evidence, the court acquitted several co-defendants, while one defendant remains under a suspended sentence issued in absentia.
