Former Kuwaiti Interior and Defense Minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled has been sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison and a heavy fine in two separate corruption cases in both ministries.
According to the international news agency, the former minister was facing two separate cases in the interior and defense on charges of embezzlement in the budgets of both ministries.
Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled was sentenced to 7 years in prison for embezzlement in the budget of the Ministry of Defense, while he was fined 500,000 Kuwaiti dinars and an additional one million Kuwaiti dollars.
In the case related to the Ministry of Interior, Sheikh Talal was sentenced to another 7 years in prison with hard labor and was fined 19 million Kuwaiti dinars.
Sheikh Khaled was also disqualified from holding any public office in these cases. The court also ordered the return of the corruption funds and the confiscation of vehicles related to the case.
Another co-accused, identified as a foreigner, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of 294,000 Kuwaiti dinars. He will be deported after serving his prison sentence and fine. It should be noted that former Kuwaiti minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled had denied the charges of embezzlement and money laundering.
