Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced that it has referred 57 supervisors and executive officials in the Kuwait Municipality to the Public Prosecution on charges of forgery, local media reported.

According to well-informed sources, about 57 employees of the Hawally Municipality were referred to the prosecution.

They were previously referred for investigation by the Deputy Director General of Hawally Municipal Affairs Ahmed Al Hazeem, as most of them do not report to work and they lacked excuses for doing so.

In a press statement, Nazaha affirmed its intention to continue efforts and procedures to investigate all serious corruption reports that it receives.

It expressed appreciation for the role played by whistleblowers in helping the authority access the necessary information and data on corruption incidents.

Illegal salaries

Nazaha affirmed its commitment to provide the maximum degree of protection and confidentiality required for the whistleblowers, as imposed by the law and the executive regulations.

Earlier this week, a group of Kuwaiti men and women have been arrested for illegally receiving salaries for jobs that they did not actually hold, Al Qabas daily reported.

The salaries, which they had been receiving, were part of the financial support intended for national manpower working in the private sector.

The lawbreakers had registered fictitiously in a contracting company but without actually going to work or having an actual workstation.

According to the paper, the defendants had received salaries, estimated at KD 5,000 to up to KD 50,000 throughout the period they were registered under the company, such that their total salaries amounted to about KD 250,000.