Iraq to seek Interpol alerts for former officials over $3.4 billion graft case

BAGHDAD – Iraq plans to ask Interpol to issue international alerts seeking the arrest of ex-senior officials, including a former finance minister and a former intelligence chief, over the suspected theft of more than US$2.5 billion (S$3.4 billion) from the country’s General Commission for Taxes.

The scandal centres on suspected illegitimate cash withdrawals from a bank account belonging to the Commission between 2021 and 2022, totalling around US$2.5 billion, according to Iraqi officials – a staggering amount, even in a country that regularly ranks among the world’s most corrupt.

Iraq’s top anti-corruption official, Judge Haider Hanoun, who is head of the Integrity Commission, announced on Sunday the move to seek so-called Interpol red notices.

Mr Hanoun said the judiciary would also ask for notices to be issued for the private secretary and a political adviser to former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

Mr al-Kadhimi and former finance minister Ali Allawi have both denied involvement. The allegations of graft were revealed late in 2022 just before a new government came to power.

Mr Allawi resigned from Mr al-Kadhimi’s government in August 2022, citing political interference in government work and graft. He has since said that he took steps to prevent theft from occurring at the tax commission but that his decisions were ignored by other officials.

Reuters could not immediately reach the other officials for comment.

Current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has said that one of his priorities is fighting the rampant corruption that pervades Iraq and has led to the pilfering of untold billions of its oil wealth over the years.

Judge Hanoun, appointed by Mr al-Sudani, said Iraq was working to extradite people involved in the theft from a number of countries – including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – and also called on the United States and Britain “to hand over fugitive suspects”.

He said that those involved in the corruption for whom he was demanding red notices had taken a share of no less than 100 billion Iraqi dinars (S$103 million).

More than 48 people were suspected of involvement overall, he added.

Mr Hanoun later told Reuters that Nour Zuheir, a businessman who has become one of the most prominent suspects in the scandal, had recovered around 380 billion dinars in stolen funds since he was released on bail in November 2022.

Zuheir has publicly maintained his innocence of all charges.

Many in Iraq have questioned why the businessman has been allowed to roam free despite officials’ allegations that he played a leading role in the theft.

Zuheir’s case remains pending and a decision to re-arrest him lies with the judiciary, Mr Hanoun said. REUTERS