KUWAIT CITY, April 28: A Kuwaiti criminal court has sentenced two Iraqi nationals and three Egyptians to three years in prison each for their involvement in an illicit financial transfer scheme that specifically targeted the Egyptian expatriate community in the country.

The court acquitted the remaining defendants accused in the case, which involved laundering approximately 55 million Kuwaiti dinars (around $179 million), and ordered the confiscation of all seized funds.

The case was initially uncovered when Kuwaiti authorities arrested an Egyptian man found carrying 50,000 Kuwaiti dinars (about $163,000) in cash. The arrest led to an investigation that exposed a wider network of individuals (both Iraqis and Egyptians) engaged in illegal money transfer operations.

The Kuwaiti Public Prosecution’s investigation revealed that the network targeted Egypt’s large expatriate community in Kuwait, estimated at around 600,000 people. The group collected funds in cash and funneled the money to Egypt and other countries using unofficial channels, bypassing licensed financial institutions and money exchange services.

Authorities also discovered that the network was running a parallel financial system based on the informal "hawala" method, facilitating unregistered transfers and moving substantial sums of money outside the oversight of the Central Bank of Kuwait.

The case highlights the government's ongoing efforts to clamp down on unregulated financial activities and reinforce control over monetary transactions.