The Ministry of Interior reported that officers from the economic crimes department arrested one suspect this week after a Kuwaiti citizen filed a complaint about losing KD 200,000 to two men who claimed they would invest the sum in a profitable venture. The victim transferred the funds based on assurances of significant returns but found himself unable to contact either individual once the money changed hands. Ministry officials stated that the probe quickly identified the pair and led to the detention of the first suspect while efforts to locate the second remain active.
Similar investment frauds have proliferated across Kuwait in recent years. An investigation published by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed in 2023 determined that more than 21,000 residents fell victim to fake electronic trading platforms between early 2022 and mid-2023. Many of those cases involved solicitations that promised guaranteed profits on trades in gold, currencies or stocks before the operators vanished with the capital.
The ministry has directed specialized units including the anti-financial crimes department and the cybercrime department to intensify monitoring of such schemes. In a separate November 2025 operation reported by Times Kuwait, authorities detained a social media user who posted images of large cash sums and gold to attract followers toward funds of unknown origin. That individual faced multiple charges including fraud and misuse of telecommunications and was referred to prosecution along with seized items.
Kuwait’s penal code sets penalties for fraud at up to three years imprisonment or fines not exceeding KD 225 under Article 232 while electronic fraud provisions under Law 63 of 2015 allow for similar prison terms and fines between KD 3,000 and KD 10,000 according to legal assessments from Kuwait-based criminal law practitioners. The arrested suspect in the KD 200,000 case has been transferred to public prosecution with the evidence gathered so far. Investigators continue to examine whether the pair targeted additional victims beyond the initial complainant.
One related incident that drew wide attention involved a cryptocurrency named Bitcoin Kuwait which collapsed shortly after launch in January 2025. Professor of computer science at Kuwait University Dr. Safaa Zaman stated that traders lost around KD 40 million in a single day to the scheme orchestrated by an anonymous developer over three years. Dr. Zaman called for stronger regulatory oversight and legislation to protect citizens particularly younger investors from such digital frauds.
Ministry statements have emphasized that all leads related to the current KD 200,000 case will be pursued until the second suspect is located and that victims of comparable scams should report details promptly to aid ongoing inquiries. The arrested man is assisting authorities with information that may accelerate the search. Officials have withheld names of those involved to preserve the integrity of the active investigation.
