Iraq recovers new batch of stolen tax funds
The Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani. Photo: AP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi government announced on Sunday the recovery of the second batch of stolen tax funds, according to a press statement issued by the Prime Minister’s press office.
The statement mentioned that the Iraqi authorities specialized in integrity issues continue its fund recovery operations related to tax funds that were stolen in what is known as the ‘theft of the century,’ the Iraqi News Agency (INA) mentioned.
The statement clarified that the second batch of these funds, which is nearly 134.5 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately 192.1 million USD) was recovered.
The amount was deposited in the open bank account of the main branch of the Rafidain Bank, the statement elaborated.
With the second batch deposited, the total amounts recovered reached approximately 317.5 billion Iraqi dinars (nearly 217.5 million USD), the statement clarified.
The statement added that the operations related to the recovery of the stolen funds and pursuing those involved in the ‘theft of the century’ are continuing under direct supervision of the Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
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reported in October that an internal investigation carried out by the Ministry of Finance found the money had been withdrawn from the account of the General Commission for Taxes at a state-owned bank.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, 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.