Egypt sends suspect to US to face charges of defrauding Kuwaiti Embassy

The US District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed the indictment of a suspect who was returned from Egypt to the US on Dec. 14 to face fraud and money laundering charges involving the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Ray Villanueva of Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. said Ahmed El-Khebki, 62, is a naturalized US citizen originally from Egypt and Sudan and has been taken into US custody.

El-Khebki fled the US in 2014, officials said.

In 2016, two former employees of the Kuwaiti Embassy Health Office pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the District of Columbia for conspiring with El-Khebki and others to launder money embezzled from the Kuwaiti Embassy’s Health Office.

Justice Department officials said El-Khebki was returned to the US by Egyptian authorities.

According to court documents and statements made during his initial appearance, El-Khebki and his co-conspirators carried out a scheme to defraud the Kuwaiti Embassy Health Office in Washington, D.C., which arranged and paid for services provided by US medical providers to Kuwaiti citizens who traveled to the US for medical care, according to court filings.

El-Khebki and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent invoices to the Kuwaiti Embassy Health Office, where other members of the conspiracy signed checks drawn off the Health Office’s US bank account made payable to shell companies created as part of the scheme.

The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security thanked Interpol and Egyptian authorities for their assistance in apprehending El-Khebki and returning him to the US. The Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service also provided significant assistance.

Homeland Security Investigations based in Washington, D.C. is leading the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Jonathan T. Baum and Trial Attorney Shai D. Bronshtein of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case.