Powerful Kuwaiti royal convicted in Swiss court for forgery

A Swiss criminal court convicted a member of the Kuwait royal family on Friday, Reuters has reported. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah was found guilty of forgery. The power broker in international sports had been charged with using a bogus Kuwaiti coup plot to gain advantage over political rivals.

The sheikh denied all the charges in the case, which has divided the Kuwaiti ruling family and prompted Sheikh Ahmad, 58, to step back from some of his public sporting roles. These include membership of the International Olympic Committee.

The criminal fraud case was launched in Switzerland as one of the sheikh’s co-defendants was, at the time of the alleged coup plot, a Geneva-based lawyer who acted on his behalf. The former OPEC Secretary General and prominent member of Kuwait’s ruling family was one of five defendants in the trial which opened on 30 August. He told reporters that he will appeal against the conviction.