Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi authorities will bring all detainees held in connection with the widening corruption investigation into former Oil Ministry official Adnan Al-Jumaili before judicial authorities on Thursday, after information obtained during his questioning led to their arrests, an informed source told Shafaq News.

Al-Jumaili, a former deputy oil minister for refining affairs and former director-general of the North Refineries Company, has remained in detention since his May 30 arrest over alleged misuse of public funds at the Baiji Refinery. He was removed as director-general of the North Refineries Company on June 2.

An investigating judge said statements Al-Jumaili made during questioning widened the inquiry, led to additional arrests and prompted investigators to examine further government contracts. The case later became one of the main investigations associated with the government’s Dawn Crackdown anti-corruption campaign, drawing in lawmakers, officials and business figures.

By mid-August, investigators had recovered more than $100 million in cash, along with hundreds of kilograms of gold, dozens of properties and vehicles in the broader case, according to the investigating judge. Authorities found some of the money hidden inside walls, water bottles and underground.

Read more: Corruption arrests in Iraq pass 210 under PM al-Zaidi

On Aug. 31, the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court announced another seizure of 7 billion IQD (about $5.32 million) and $5.5 million, along with 35 properties and six vehicles belonging to Alaa Mohsen Khalaf, Al-Jumaili’s detained office director.

Security forces arrested Hussein Talib Abboud Marouh Al-Fadhli, director-general of the Oil Products Distribution Company, in Baghdad in July over suspected corruption, hours before he was due to take the constitutional oath as a replacement lawmaker.

Authorities also arrested Al-Jumaili’s brother, Ghassan Al-Jumaili, head of the training department at the Baiji Oil Institute, on Sept. 5 over alleged corruption. Officials have not disclosed the specific accusations against him or confirmed whether his case directly forms part of the investigation into his brother.

Read more: Iraq’s Dawn Crackdown spreads through state institutions