Former Kuwait health official accused of hosting ‘fake doctor’

Kuwait’s health minister Bassel Al-Sabah on Thursday referred a former official at the Ministry of Health to the public prosecution, state news agency KUNA reported.

The unnamed individual stands accused of hosting an Arab law professor in the fake capacity as a doctor.

The minister, who also filed a libel suit against the ex-official, said he took the action under the directions of prime minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to be firm against any “financial irregularities” and the squandering of public funds.

The incident is alleged to have taken place in 2015, when the former official is alleged to have brought the law professor to Kuwait from an Arab country to partake in a convention held by the ministry in the fake capacity as a doctor.

“The ministry had to pay for that person’s travel and residency costs in the country,” KUNA said.

On Sunday, Kuwait’s Anti-Corruption Authority said it had also referred a former senior official at the Ministry of Health and other individuals to the public prosecution for a “shady transaction” involving the import of heartbeat regulators.

Read: Kuwait anti-corruption body refers former health official to prosecutors