KUWAIT CITY, July 8: According to a recent report by the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), its audit committees inquired about balances, accounts, securities, and the movement of accounts and local banks for 515 who are covered by financial disclosure statements. About 5,253 leaders and individuals who are required to submit their financial disclosure statements to Nazaha failed to do so in the last six years - between 2017 and 2022. They were referred to the Public Prosecution, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The report explained that the number of those who failed to submit declarations in the last three years represented six times more than those registered from 2017 to 2019.

The files of those who defaulted were referred to the Public Prosecution, but it was noted that they recorded an increase during the last three years, as 1,426 failed to submit their declarations in 2022, 1,038 in 2021, and 2,062 in 2020.

In this context, the total declarations submitted during the first three months of this year amounted to approximately 3,350. The total declarations received by Nazaha since the approval of its executive regulations six years ago amounted to 33,347 declarations, of which 51 percent submitted their declarations for the first time, 11,000 were covered with the declarations until March, and 5,232 left office.

The audit committees inquired about 430 balances and movements of local bank accounts belonging to those subject to financial disclosure, with the aim of examining the elements of ownership of securities through the Kuwait Clearing Company.

The committees also inquired about the balances and movement of accounts for 85 securities covered by the financial disclosure statement through the Kuwait Investigations Unit of the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. All the required data were received.

Nazaha, through the initiative to review and enhance accountability in state-owned companies, is working in partnership with the State Audit Bureau to strengthen efforts to implement a guide for auditing the application of governance rules in this type of company.