2023-08-06 23:36:05
Iraq intends to ask Interpol to issue “international arrest warrants” against former senior officials, including a former finance minister and intelligence chief, in connection with the theft of more than $2.5 billion in tax secretaries.
According to Iraqi officials, the scandal revolves around illegal cash withdrawals from the country’s General Tax Authority in 2021 and 2022 totaling about $2.5 billion, which is a huge amount even in a country that is always ranked among the most corrupt in the world.
On Sunday, the head of the Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun, announced a move to organize “red signals” from Interpol against the wanted persons.
Hanoun said that the judiciary will also request the issuance of red flags to the private secretary and political advisor to former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi.
Al-Kazemi and former Finance Minister Ali Allawi denied their involvement in the corruption, which was reported to have been exposed late last year after a new government assumed power.
Allawi resigned from the position in August 2022, citing political interference in government work and illegal gain.
He said afterwards that he had taken steps to prevent theft from happening at the General Tax Authority but other officials had ignored his decisions.
Archyde.com was not immediately able to reach the other officials for comment.
The current Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, said that he gives priority to fighting the rampant corruption in the country and has led to the theft of untold billions of the country’s oil wealth over the years.
Hanoun indicated that Iraq is seeking to extradite those involved in the theft from a number of countries, including the UAE, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and called on the United States and the United Kingdom to “hand over the fugitive suspects.”
Hanoun said that all those wanted in the “theft of the century” are not less than 100 billion dinars ($77 million) in acquisitions.
He added, “The crime is large, and the number of suspects in it exceeds 48.”
Hanoon later told Archyde.com that an Iraqi businessman named Noor Zuhair, who became one of the main suspects in the case, had recovered some 380 billion dinars ($292 million) in stolen money since being released on bail in November 2022.
Zuhair publicly asserted his innocence of all charges against him.
Many in Iraq wonder why the businessman was allowed freedom of movement despite allegations by officials that he played a major role in the theft.
Hanoun said that Zuhair’s case is still pending, adding that the decision to re-detain him is in the hands of the judiciary.
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