Iraq recovers 80 million USD stolen in ‘theft of the century’
The Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and part of the recovered funds from the ‘theft of the century.’ Photo: Iraqi News Agency
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi government announced on Wednesday the recovery of 80 million USD stolen in the ‘theft of the century’ where nearly 2.6 billion USD were stolen, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s press office.
As part of the government’s continuous endeavors to recover Iraq’s funds smuggled abroad, the authorities managed to recover more than 80 million USD from the stolen funds and return them to the state treasury, the statement mentioned.
Thus, Baghdad succeeded in recovering a new batch of the funds stolen from the General Commission for Taxes in what is known as the ‘theft of the century,’ in which former senior officials and businessmen were involved.
Iraq’s Commission of Integrity (COI) 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reported in October that an internal investigation carried out by the Ministry of Finance found the money had been withdrawn from the account of the General Commission for Taxes at a state-owned bank.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, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia 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.