Kuwait pension fund wins UK lawsuit to recoup money 'stolen' by late director

LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Kuwait's public pension fund on Thursday broadly won its London lawsuit against asset manager Man Group and others, in which it accused various banks and investment companies of laundering bribes paid to its late director.

The Public Institution for Social Security, which operates Kuwait's social security and pension scheme, had sued the estate of Fahad Al Rajaan at London's High Court in 2019, accusing him of corruptly siphoning off roughly $1 billion during his tenure.

Al Rajaan, PIFSS director from 1984 to 2014, was convicted in his absence of corruption and embezzling public money in Kuwait in 2016 and died in London in 2022.

PIFSS alleged that, over the course of two decades, Al Rajaan and his associates received at least $970 million in bribes, described as commission payments which banks and investment companies did not need to pay.

Judge Richard Jacobs said in a summary of his ruling that "PIFSS' claims for compensation against the various defendants were, broadly speaking, successful", but that the sums to be paid were still to be determined.