COI recovers 4 billion dinars from one of those charged of ‘theft of the century’
The head of the Federal Commission of Integrity Haider Hanoun and the recovered money. Photo: Iraqi News Agency
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The head of the Federal Commission of Integrity (COI), Haider Hanoun, announced on Tuesday the recovery of four billion dinars (nearly 2.74 million USD) from one of those charged of ‘the theft of the century,’ the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
Hanoun, during a press conference, said that four billion dinars have been recovered from one of the accused, and indicated that the amount is part of the 17 billion dinars (approximately 11.64 million USD) that must be paid by the accused.
Hanoun added that within days, Iraq will recover more than 80 million USD from the United States of America, which is part of the former regime’s smuggled funds.
Iraq’s Commission of Integrity disclosed last October details about the theft of more than 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (2.53 billion USD) from the General Commission for Taxes.
The Iraqi judiciary issued arrest warrants for senior officials in the Ministry of Finance regarding this major breach and terrible abuse of public funds, the COI mentioned in October.
The Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported in October that an internal investigation carried out by the Ministry of Finance found the money had been withdrawn from the account of the General Commission for Taxes at a state-owned bank.
At that time, Al-Sudani vowed to tackle endemic corruption in the country. “We will not allow Iraqis’ money to be robbed,” he said via Twitter.
The Rafidain Bank issued a statement in October confirming it has nothing to do with any manipulation or theft, and it was only responsible for cashing the checks issued by the General Commission for Taxes.
The vast sum of cash, equivalent to nearly 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars, were stolen by five companies from the General Commission of Taxes account at Baghdad’s Al-Rafidain Bank between September 2021 and August 2022 through the cashing in of 247 checks issued by the tax directorate, according to Rudaw News.
The Karkh Investigation Court decided on August 21, 2022, to stop the disbursement of checks issued by the General Commission for Taxes.