Iraqi authorities detain 31 in weekly corruption cases

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi authorities detained 31 officials, employees,contractors, and other suspects across seven separate corruption cases betweenJuly 20 and 26, according to a Shafaq News review. The detentions spanned threeprovinces and seven government or public-administration areas, from provincialadministration and state banking to water resources and local government, andcoincided with newly announced seizures exceeding 41 billion Iraqi dinars($31.3 million), $400,000, and 45 kilograms of gold.

The arrests were carried out largely under judicial warrantsand referrals involving the Federal Integrity Commission, an independent statebody mandated to investigate public-sector corruption, and theCounter-Terrorism Service, with detentions recorded in Al-Diwaniyah, Saladin,and Kirkuk.

Read more: Iraq detains top officials in anti-corruption sweep: What we know so far

Forgery Network and Provincial Office Record the LargestCases

The week's largest single case reached Al-Diwaniyah, wherethe Federal Integrity Commission announced the detention of 13 suspects afterdismantling “a dangerous forgery network” involving government employees,lawyers, and others. The suspects included employees from the municipal,civil-status, passport, and residency directorates.

Investigators documented 243 loan applications supported byforged guarantees and submitted to 12 state banks in several provinces, 13 landplots allocated to ineligible applicants from outside the province, more than600 forged residence and civil-status records, and more than 1,000 forgeddocuments in total.

Forged papers were submitted to courts, the MartyrsFoundation, the Pension Authority, the Article 140 Committee dealing withclaims arising from Iraq’s disputed-territories process, and the Social WelfareFoundation, alongside fraudulent identities issued in the names of living anddeceased people and manipulated electronic visas using altered barcodes.

The properties and loans exposed to manipulation exceededfour billion dinars ($3.05 million).

The second-largest case fell in Saladin, where eightemployees of the Saladin Provincial Office were arrested under judicialwarrants in a financial-corruption case. A provincial spokesperson saidwarrants had been issued for 54 employees over administrative violations datingback several years.

Al-Diwaniyah, Kirkuk, and Saladin

Four contractors were detained in Al-Diwaniyah by a jointCounter-Terrorism Service and Federal Integrity Commission force after raidstied to municipal funds allegedly disbursed contrary to regulations. Reportsreferred to cash, gold, and luxury vehicles allegedly found during theoperations, though no quantities or values were officially confirmed.

In Kirkuk, authorities arrested the director of theprovincial Veterinary Department and the head of the veterinary section inShwan district under a judicial order over financial and administrativecorruption allegations, with the amounts undisclosed.

Two colonels in the Saladin Traffic Directorate werearrested by the General Traffic Directorate over alleged embezzlement, forgery,and manipulation of traffic-fine revenues. The alleged schemes were initiallylinked to 1.8 billion dinars ($1.37 million) and more than 350 million dinars($267,176), a combined total exceeding 2.15 billion dinars ($1.64 million).

Federal Integrity Commission investigators also caught adepartment director in the Kirkuk Water Resources Directorate while allegedlyreceiving money from a citizen. The operation followed a complaint accusing theofficial of demanding payment to complete a transaction or provideadministrative facilitation.

In Saladin, a security force accompanied by the FederalIntegrity Commission arrested Provincial Council member Kamel Abbas Ashraf oncorruption charges. The underlying allegations and financial amounts were notdisclosed.

Kirkuk Checkpoint Officers

Kirkuk Operations Command reported that officers accused ofexploiting their positions to facilitate smuggling through the Darman and Jemencheckpoints had been detained and referred for investigation, without statingan exact number. Because no figure was published, those officers were excludedfrom the weekly total.

The operation also produced the seizure of 163 vehiclescarrying smuggled goods without customs payment, though those seizures covered45 days and do not represent a weekly figure.

Where the Week's Cases Fell

Measured by case category, the cross-institutional forgerynetwork accounted for 13 of the 31 detentions, provincial administration foreight, municipal administration and public contracting for four, agricultureand veterinary services for two, and interior and traffic administration fortwo. Water resources and the local legislature accounted for one detentioneach.

By location, Al-Diwaniyah recorded 17 detentions, Saladin11, and Kirkuk three.

Money Seized and Recovered

The reporting period produced substantial recoveries in thecontinuing investigation into former Oil Ministry undersecretary AdnanAl-Jumaili. The first judicial announcement covered 13 billion dinars ($9.92million), $400,000, 40 gold bars weighing one kilogram each, and five kilogramsof gold jewelry, while a second, announced on July 26, covered 27 billiondinars ($20.61 million) said to have been hidden with several people.

Combined, the newly reported Al-Jumaili recoveries reached40 billion dinars ($30.53 million), $400,000, and 45 kilograms of gold. No newarrest was reported in either update.

The judiciary separately announced the recovery of1,143,847,719 dinars ($873,166) in a financial-fraud case, again without a newarrest. Total newly reported seizures and recoveries for the period stood at41,143,847,719 dinars ($31.41 million), $400,000, and 45 kilograms of gold.

Read more: Can Iraq recover billions in stolen assets abroad?

Penalties, Audits, and the Next Phase

Several public-money cases advanced without new arrests. InDhi Qar, a Nasiriyah municipal official and his wife, also a municipalemployee, were each sentenced to five years in prison and fined 1.8 billiondinars ($1.37 million) and $800,000, for combined penalties of 3.6 billiondinars ($2.75 million) and $1.6 million.

In Diyala, a Provincial Office accounts official wasinvestigated over the premature release of a guarantee on a road-maintenanceand paving contract valued at 1.2616 billion dinars ($963,053), afterinspectors found cracks, subsidence, and serious damage months aftercompletion. The official was presented before an investigative judge but wasnot confirmed detained.

Federal Board of Supreme Audit findings pointed to furthervulnerabilities. Defense Ministry scrap at the Al-Taji and Balad sites was solddirectly for 200,000 dinars ($153) per ton, while comparable scrap at theOfficers Club was sold through public auction for 630,000 dinars ($481) perton, a difference of 430,000 dinars ($328) per ton.

The findings also flagged food-ration supply contractsawarded to a single private company, bonuses paid from performance-guaranteedeposits tied to the food-basket contract, and contracts awarded without properverification of letters of guarantee.

A parliamentary file alleging financial and administrativecorruption within Federal Board of Supreme Audit offices, including concealmentof corruption files and preferential treatment for relatives of influentialofficials, was completed for referral to the Federal Integrity Commission andPublic Prosecution. No arrest had been announced in connection with the auditfindings by the end of July 26.

Over Two Weeks

Over the two weeks from July 12 to 26, Shafaq Newsdocumented 58 confirmed detentions across the two reporting periods, spanningsix provinces and operational jurisdictions: Baghdad, Nineveh, Kirkuk,Al-Diwaniyah, Diyala, and Saladin.

The first week recorded 27 detentions across defense andmilitary works, customs and border administration, oil, municipaladministration, health, finance and pensions, and the legislature, while the second week recorded 31 detentions across across-institutional forgery network, provincial administration, municipalcontracting, agriculture and veterinary services, traffic administration, waterresources, and the Saladin Provincial Council.

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