Today, Ahmed El Khebki of Alexandria, Virginia, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in laundering money stolen from the Health Office of the Embassy of Kuwait in Washington, D.C. Court documents revealed that between January 2014 and September 2014, El Khebki and his accomplices pilfered funds from the Kuwait Embassy’s Health Office, originally intended for medical treatment of Kuwaiti citizens in the United States.
To execute their scheme, they devised fictitious entities like “Hopiken” and “MedStars,” mimicking legitimate U.S. healthcare providers partnered with the Kuwait Embassy. Fraudulent invoices from these entities were submitted, approved, and paid by the Health Office, totaling over $1.5 million.
El Khebki, personally handling hundreds of thousands of dollars, deposited stolen funds into his accounts. After fleeing to Egypt in 2014 to evade arrest, El Khebki remained a fugitive until his 2021 apprehension and subsequent return to the United States.
He pleaded guilty in May 2023 to laundering over $1.5 million from the Kuwait Embassy. El Khebki’s co-conspirators, Wael Sedik and Huwida Fadl, were previously sentenced. Another co-defendant, Hussein Fadl Osman, remains at large.
At Kuwait’s request, charges against the Health Office’s financial attaché were dropped, and she was returned for prosecution.
The announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon. HSI conducted the investigation, while Senior Trial Attorney Jonathan Baum and Trial Attorney Shai D. Bronshtein of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) prosecuted the case.
