KUWAIT CITY // Millions of dollars have been deposited suspiciously into the bank accounts of 15 Kuwaiti members of parliament suspected of money laundering, media have reported.
The central bank had told prosecutors that bank accounts held by the 15 lawmakers "have received suspicious deposits and the anti-money laundering law applies to them," Al-Jarida newspaper reported, citing informed sources.
The allegation was widely reported in the state's media yesterday.
In September, the public prosecutor launched an unprecedented inquiry into the bank accounts of the 15 MPs after three banks informed him that large deposits were added to the accounts from unknown sources.
The case was one of several issues that forced the former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah to resign this week.
Al-Jarida said the prosecutor planned to ask parliament to lift the immunity of the suspected MPs to question them to determine the source of the money.
The opposition has alleged that the funds, estimated at nearly 100 million dinars (Dh1.3 billion), were paid by the government to secure votes on crucial issues, including motions of no confidence against the premier and his ministers.
The Kuwaiti government has denied the allegations.
Al-Jarida said the largest deposit for one MP was 2 million dinars and 5 million dinars in his wife's account.
The central bank governor, Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al Sabah, said on Tuesday that the bank has written back to the prosecutor about the suspicious deposits without revealing details.
Also, the public prosecutor ordered the release on bail of 24 youth activists who had been held in detention over the storming of parliament last month, their lawyer said.
"A decision has just been issued to release all the 24 people on a bail of 1,000 dinars each," Al Humaidi Al Subaie, who heads the legal defence team of the activists, said.
Hundreds of opposition activists overran parliament on November 16 after clashes with riot police that followed a large protest to demand the prime minister's resignation and the dissolution of parliament.
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US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
