Kuwaiti Public Prosecution’s investigation into Bangladeshi MP Shahid Islam Papul's case of human trafficking and money laundering found that thousands of Pakistanis, Syrians, and Iraqis were granted Kuwaiti visas, besides Bangladeshis, in exchange for bribes, reports Gulf News.
The investigation into paperwork pertaining to labourers, signed and issued by the Assistant Under-Secretary of Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior, Major General Sheikh Mazen Al Jarrah, showed that 5,000 Pakistanis entered the country after paying bribes, Kuwaiti media reported.
Kuwait annulled all these paperwork to revise all transactions between 2014 to 2018, regarding citizenship and passports, as Al Jarrah was overseeing the department during that period.
Al Jarrah reportedly signed off on paperwork allowing thousands of Bangladeshis to obtain work permits, in connection with the Bangladeshi MP Mohammed Shahid Islam’s illegal dealings in Kuwait.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior has been reviewing all paperwork with Al Jarrah’s signature to determine which transactions were connected to Papul.
A source told the daily Al Qabas that Al Jarrah also signed off on paperwork allowing 1,000 Iraqis and hundreds of Syrians to enter the country on visit visas, despite the fact that Iraqi and Syrians were barred from entering Kuwait since 2011.
Al Jarrah and Papul are being held in Kuwait’s central prison on three charges: human trafficking, money laundering, and bribery.
Kuwaiti authorities have frozen Papul’s bank accounts and companies to ensure that the money is not moved around beyond the jurisdiction of Kuwaiti courts.
The Bangladeshi MP is the managing director and CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group, a security and labour contracting company. In addition, Papul has three other companies in Kuwait, all of which are cleaning and contracting companies.
The MP had an annual net profit of around two million Kuwaiti dinars after all the bribes and money he spent on gifts in exchange for facilitating transactions and paperwork to bring in workers from Bangladesh. There are 350,000 Bangladeshis residing in Kuwait, according to the embassy of Bangladesh.
According to Al Qabas, Bangladesh was allegedly prompted to call back its ambassador to Kuwait SM Abul Kalam before the end of his term of office, because of his purported involvement in Papul’s illegal transactions.
