KUWAIT CITY, June 23: The detention renewal judge has rejected the request to release the defendants in the largest money laundering case involving 27 individuals including six Kuwaiti citizens, and decided to extend their detention for 14 days pending investigation into the case. In the previous hearing, the defendants -- six citizens, eight Syrians, 12 Egyptians, and one Lebanese -- denied all the charges.

Their defense team demanded for their release on any bail amount that the court deemed appropriate due to the lack of justification for pretrial detention, but the court rejected the request. Case files indicate that the defendants formed a gang, through which they were able to launder money – more than KD120 million – within a short period and transferred it illegally by using local banking systems to hide it and camouflage its source.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud, Munif Naif
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff and Agencies