KUWAIT CITY, May 27: The Court of Cassation has closed the curtain on the case filed against an employee of Kuwait Fire Service Directorate for the embezzlement of huge sums of money by increasing his salary several times through trickery and manipulation. The court sentenced him to 15 years in prison and obligated him to return KD four million to the State Treasury, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to the case file, the defendant increased his salary 15 times in two years, and invested huge amounts of money in buying rosaries and rings. The case began when detectives received confidential information about financial suspicions surrounding an employee of the payroll department in the Kuwait Fire Service Directorate. His senior colleague at work accidentally found a salary certificate of the defendant which revealed a large amount even though his actual salary at the time did not exceed KD 2,000.

Detectives intensified their investigations, and developed a well-articulated plan to apprehend the accused. It was found that the employee had embezzled two million dinars over a period of two years, as he mastered the mechanism of raising his salary. The mechanism began with the accused gradually increasing his salary from KD 4,000 to KD 9,000, and then after just three months, he increased it to KD 17,000. When he was reassured of the situation as no inquiries were received from any competent authority, he raised his salary to KD 42,000, which is the highest salary a public employee receives in Kuwait.