Probe into Papul’s case float more cases of corruption in Kuwait
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior is reviewing all paperwork with Al Jarrah’s signature to determine which transactions were connected to Kazi Papul
Investigation by the Kuwaiti public prosecution into Bangladeshi lawmaker Kazi Shahid Islam Papul over charges of human trafficking, money laundering and corruption has floated many other irregularities.
The Kuwaiti probe team recently found that about 5,000 Pakistanis entered the country after paying bribes, reports the Gulf News citing Kuwaiti media.
Kuwait has a strict rule on issuing of visas since 2011 for five nationalities - Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
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The irregularity was discovered following investigation into paperwork pertaining to labourers, signed and issued by the Assistant Under-Secretary of Kuwait's Ministry of Interior Major General Sheikh Mazen Al Jarrah. Kuwait has annulled all these paperwork to revise all transactions between 2014 to 2018, regarding citizenship and passports, as Al Jarrah was overseeing the department during that period.
Al Jarrah allegedly signed off on paperwork allowing thousands of Bangladeshis to obtain work permits, in connection with Kazi Papul's illegal dealings in Kuwait.
Kuwait's Ministry of Interior is reviewing all paperwork with Al Jarrah's signature to determine which transactions were connected to Kazi Papul.
A source told Al Qabas that Al Jarrah also signed off on paperwork allowing 1,000 Iraqis and hundreds of Syrians to enter the country on visit visas, despite the fact that Iraqi and Syrians were barred from entering Kuwait.
Al Jarrah and Papul are being held in Kuwait's central prison on three charges: human trafficking, money laundering and bribery. Kuwaiti authorities have frozen Papul's bank accounts and companies to ensure that the money is not moved around beyond the jurisdiction of Kuwaiti courts.
The Bangladeshi lawmaker is the managing director and CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group, a security and labour contracting company. In addition, he has three other companies in Kuwait, all of which are cleaning and contracting companies.
Kazi Shahid Islam Papul had an annual net profit of around two million Kuwaiti dinars after all the bribes and money he spent on gifts in exchange for facilitating transactions and paperwork to bring in workers from Bangladesh.
There are 350,000 Bangladeshis residing in Kuwait, according to the embassy of Bangladesh.
According to Al Qabas, Bangladesh was allegedly prompted to call back its ambassador to Kuwait SM Abul Kalam before the end of his term of office, because of his purported involvement in Islam's illegal transactions.
