Individual Corruption

According to the Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2009, approximately one out of ten surveyed households reported having paid a bribe to land services in 2008. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents believe that bribing land authorities to obtain favourable decisions is a serious problem in Kuwait.

According to an October 2006 article by Democratic Underground, a US Army Corps of Engineers employee paid a bribe of USD 50,000 to a Kuwaiti real estate agent to get apartments for US personnel stationed in Kuwait. The deal made between the two parties was for the agent to inflate the sum of the rent and pay the Army employee a share. The army employee was sentence to two years of prison and a fine, yet there was no reference to whether the agent was being investigated or not. 

Political Corruption

Abuse of power is not uncommon in Kuwait. For example, according to Global Integrity 2008, some Members of Parliament have appropriated state land to build their own private residences, meeting places and chalets.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2012:
- Registering property takes 47 days, 8 procedures and costs 0.5% of the average property value.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012:
- Business executives give the protection of property rights in Kuwait, including financial assets, a score of 5 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very weak' and 7 'very strong').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 12% of the households surveyed reported to have paid a bribe to land services in 2008.

- 63% of the households surveyed consider the bribing of land authorities to obtain favourable decisions a 'serious problem' in Kuwait.

- 56% of the households consider grand or political corruption in land matters to be a 'very serious problem'.