KOTC appeal set for November 24

The Kuwaiti court of cassation has set November 24 to start hearings into an appeal regarding the controversial Kuwait Oil Tankers Company, KOTC embezzlement case.

Legal sources said that the date was set after the public prosecution filed an appeal objecting to the ruling of the Court of Appeals. The case involves four persons: two Kuwaitis, a Jordanian and a Briton.

The criminal court in June last year sentenced the first defendant Abdul Fattah Al Bader, the former chairman of KOTC, to 35 years in jail and Hassan Qabazard, the former deputy chairman for financial affairs, to 40 years. The court ordered them to return together $54 million US and fined them an equal amount.

The court also sentenced former financial manager Nasim Mohsen, a Jordanian, to 15 years imprisonment and ordered to return $5 million US and fined him an equal amount. The court also acquitted Timothy Stanford, a Briton.

The court of appeals later canceled the sentences because the criminal court's verdict was undated. The cassation court's verdict will be final.

The criminal court had issued verdicts against only four defendants after sending a former oil minister to a special court.