KUWAIT: Communication Minister and State Minister for Municipality Affairs Essa Al-Kandari sent a letter to the prosecutor general regarding a forgery case to release a bank guarantee work KD 40,000. Kandari said the municipality formed a task force earlier in order to investigate the status of guarantee letters submitted by companies and issued by local banks in favor of the municipality, that keeps the original copy. Companies do not recover the value of those guarantees without a letter from the municipality to the bank stating that it agrees to return the money. This will not be done until companies meet all their commitments towards the municipality without any notes.
On Dec 20, 2015, the head of the task force, assistant director general for financial and administrative affairs at the municipality, sent a letter to a bank asking about the authenticity of the guarantee issued by it in the name of a company of a value of KD 40,000 to guarantee the registration of the company at the Central Tenders Committee as a contractor with the municipality on Dec 6, 2015, but the bank said the guarantee was released according to the municipality approval based on a letter dated Sept 22, 2014 in the name of the Former Director of Financial Affairs Younes Al-Saleh.
The head of the task force said the guarantee is still included in the computer of guarantees follow up at the financial affairs department, which means the municipality did not release this guarantee.
Based on the above, and the events states the occurrence of the following crimes:
1- Felony of facilitating the takeover of funds deposited at the bank in favor of the municipality, which is criminalized by article 10 of the public funds protection law 1/1993.
2- Forgery in official letters and papers of a bank by imitating signatures and seals of concerned municipality officials as well as signatures and seals of the general registrar.
3- Use of forged papers with forged seals. – Al-Anbaa
