Famous Gulf poet convicted for falsifying Kuwaiti nationality, sentenced to lifelong imprisonment
Gulf Poet Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Kuwaiti Nationality Fraud
A high-profile Gulf poet has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Kuwait for forging Kuwaiti nationality as part of an elaborate citizenship fraud scheme. This case, one of the most prominent instances of citizenship fraud in recent Kuwaiti history, was uncovered during a large-scale nationality fraud investigation that spanned decades and involved a Syrian family and others.
The investigation, led by the Supreme Nationality Investigation Committee and coordinated with the Ministry of Interior, began months earlier when a man was detained at Kuwait International Airport trying to flee. Under interrogation, he revealed that several others in his family were actually Syrians posing as Kuwaitis using falsified civil records.
At the heart of the scheme was a Syrian national who forged paperwork to appear as the father linked to dozens of others, creating a fake family tree that spanned generations. DNA tests disproved biological ties to actual Kuwaiti citizens. The fraud was orchestrated through fraudulent marriages, kinship records, and interlocking civil files, facilitated by weaknesses in Kuwait's nationality and identity platforms.
The poet, who had previously renounced his original nationality, secured a forged birth certificate claiming his birth year as 1972. However, it was discovered that he was actually born 11 years earlier. The poet illegally obtained Kuwaiti citizenship in 1995 by being added to the civil file of a deceased citizen. The absence of any Kuwaiti educational records during the investigation further substantiated the forgery.
The poet assumed a Kuwaiti name and, over the years, gained prominence as a poet. His case was uncovered through a covert investigation by the Nationality Investigation Department. In addition to the poet’s case, other notable frauds include a Sri Lankan woman who deceived the system for over three decades by faking a pregnancy to obtain citizenship through marriage, exposing additional systemic vulnerabilities. Another individual, a Saudi poet, was sentenced to seven years for forgery and fraud related to citizenship.
The poet was ordered to be deported after serving his term. In June 2024, the authorities also revoked the citizenship of the poet's 27 children. The court imposed a fine of 1,793,000 Kuwaiti dinars on the poet. The poet’s sentencing follows Kuwait’s intensified crackdown on nationality fraud, and many other cases are under review, with further citizenship revocations anticipated.
This case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining the integrity of national identity and the consequences of fraudulent activities. The consequences of this investigation are severe: life sentences for key offenders, mass citizenship revocations, and extensive efforts by Kuwaiti authorities to dismantle forged networks endangering the integrity of national identity.
- The sentencing of the poet, involved in a prominent case of citizenship fraud, highlights the severe consequences of general-news topics such as crime-and-justice, particularly when they undermine national identity, as his life imprisonment and subsequent deportation demonstrate.
- As citizenship fraud schemes, like the one involving the poet, are uncovered, the need for addressing these issues in the realm of general-news and politics becomes increasingly evident, with the recent case serving as a call for stricter measures in crime-and-justice and national identity platforms.
