Papul to serve seven years in Kuwait jail

Kuwait's Appeal Court yesterday extended the imprisonment of former Bangladeshi MP Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul and two Kuwaitis to seven years, from four, in a bribery case.

The others whose sentences were increased include Kuwait's interior ministry's Assistant Under-Secretary Maj Gen Mazen Al-Jarrah and former MP candidate Salah Khorshid, reported Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Qabas yesterday.

The court, however, acquitted Kuwaiti MP Saadoun Hammad.

The court delivered the verdict following an appeal filed by Papul after Kuwait's criminal court on January 28 sentenced him to four years, around eight months after Kuwait's Criminal Investigation Department arrested him.

Papul is the managing director and CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group.

The independent lawmaker from Lakshmipur-2 was also fined 1.97 million Kuwaiti dinars (Tk 55 crore) the day he was handed the sentence.

Papul's fine was also increased by the court yesterday, but the amount could not be known.

Following the verdict of Kuwait's criminal court, his Jatiya Sangsad membership was cancelled.

The defendants can now seek a review petition with the court, which will check if there was any legal deviation in legal procedures. It won't, however, change the verdict delivered by the appeal court.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Kuwait Maj Gen Md Ashikuzzaman said he learnt about Papul's extension of imprisonment to seven years through a newspaper and has asked the embassy lawyer to collect the copy of the verdict.

"We can then provide you with the details," he told The Daily Star yesterday evening.

Papul was accused of human trafficking, money laundering and bribing Kuwaiti officials with millions of dollars to recruit Bangladeshi workers and get contracts for his company. He was also accused of labour exploitation and violation of the residence law.

Ashikuzzaman said Papul was not found guilty of human trafficking but was guilty of bribing officials. The money laundering case is still being investigated.

Quoting Al-Qabas, Kuwaiti news portal The Times earlier reported that Papul was estimated to have obtained five million Kuwaiti dinars in assets. During investigations, all his bank accounts and those of his company were frozen.

Papul went to Kuwait in 1989 as a worker and eventually started working as a recruitment broker and later established companies. He ran four companies involved in providing cleaners through government contracts in Kuwait, employing around 9,000 workers.

He had no involvement in politics back home before 2016.

Papul invested crores of taka to prevent other potential candidates in the Lakshmipur-2 constituency and became an independent MP in the 2018 national election. His wife Selina Islam allegedly did the same to become an MP from the reserved seats for women.

The Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh opened an enquiry into an allegation that Papul amassed Tk 1,400 crore by trafficking people to Kuwait and laundered the money to different countries.

The ACC said the enquiry was to look into the charges of loan forgery and money laundering by the NRB Commercial Bank Director Kazi Papul, his wife Selina, their daughter Kazi Wafa Islam and Selina's sister Jesmin.

On December 28, a Dhaka Court ordered the freezing of 617 bank accounts and 92 deeds of immoveable properties of Papul, following a petition filed by the ACC.