Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi lawmaker Abu Turab Al-Tamimi on Friday held the Oil Ministry’s financial oversight and legal departments responsible for alleged corruption involving Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs Adnan Al-Jumaili and detained Oil Products Distribution Company chief Hussein Talib.

Al-Tamimi, a member of the Badr parliamentary bloc, told Shafaq News that former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani had granted Al-Jumaili conditional powers requiring compliance with regulations overseen by the two departments. He said the allegations involving Talib were more extensive than those linked to the deputy minister.

Security forces arrested Talib in Baghdad in July over suspected graft, hours before he was due to take the constitutional oath as a replacement member of parliament.

The lawmaker also claimed that corruption within the Electricity Ministry exceeded that in the oil sector but had attracted considerably less attention.

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Asked whether recovered assets could help ease Iraq’s financial crisis, Al-Tamimi said they could provide an important source of revenue but would not be sufficient on their own to address the country’s fiscal challenges.

The investigation into Al-Jumaili has emerged as one of the largest under the government’s Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr). On Aug. 31, judicial authorities reported seizing another 7 billion dinars, $5.5 million, 35 properties, and six vehicles from his detained office director, on top of earlier recoveries exceeding $20 million, 60 kilograms of gold, real estate, and vehicles.

Information obtained during the deputy minister’s questioning also implicated political figures and lawmakers and helped expose an alleged network involving public funds, government spokesperson Haider Al-Aboudi revealed in June.

Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi launched the nationwide Dawn Crackdown on June 28. A Shafaq News review documented at least 210 detentions during its first six weeks, spanning officials, lawmakers, public employees, and business figures.

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