Public prosecution closes case against Kuwaiti beauty ecommerce platform Boutiqaat; finds no wrongdoing

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Kuwait’s public prosecution dismissed the money laundering case Boutiqaat, the leading Kuwaiti beauty ecommerce platform, after finding no evidence of money laundering or illicit activity. Boutiqaat had been under investigation for money laundering since July last year. Its local bank accounts also remained frozen for about eight months on orders of the Kuwaiti public prosecutor as the local authorities were investigating the company. They were unfrozen in March earlier this year. Boutiqaat always denied wrongdoing and offered to help the local authorities in their investigation.

The popular ecommerce site is one of Kuwait’s most notable online success stories and was looking at a valuation of between $700 million and $1 billion last summer, prior to the investigation.

Founded in 2015 by Abdulwahab Alessa, Boutiqaat sells over 40,000 beauty and fashion products from hundreds of international brands, using influencers. The online platform features boutiques (stores) of influencers where they list their favorite products, enabling their fans to purchase them. Boutiqaat manages the entire transaction, including fulfillment of the products, while sharing a cut of the profit it makes from these sales with the influencers. Kuwaiti authorities had also investigated some social media influencers around the same time for money laundering. The company was in talks to raise fresh funds at a valuation of up to $1 billion when the Kuwaiti authorities started an investigation into its finances.

Boutiqaat in its statement said that moving forward their focus will remain on providing an exceptional experience to its customers.

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