Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi authorities detained 31 officials, employees, contractors, and other suspects across seven separate corruption cases between July 20 and 26, according to a Shafaq News review. The detentions spanned three provinces and seven government or public-administration areas, from provincial administration and state banking to water resources and local government, and coincided with newly announced seizures exceeding 41 billion Iraqi dinars ($31.3 million), $400,000, and 45 kilograms of gold.

The arrests were carried out largely under judicial warrants and referrals involving the Federal Integrity Commission, an independent state body mandated to investigate public-sector corruption, and the Counter-Terrorism Service, with detentions recorded in Al-Diwaniyah, Saladin, and Kirkuk.

Read more: Iraq detains top officials in anti-corruption sweep: What we know so far

Forgery Network and Provincial Office Record the Largest Cases

The week's largest single case reached Al-Diwaniyah, where the Federal Integrity Commission announced the detention of 13 suspects after dismantling “a dangerous forgery network” involving government employees, lawyers, and others. The suspects included employees from the municipal, civil-status, passport, and residency directorates.

Investigators documented 243 loan applications supported by forged guarantees and submitted to 12 state banks in several provinces, 13 land plots allocated to ineligible applicants from outside the province, more than 600 forged residence and civil-status records, and more than 1,000 forged documents in total.

Forged papers were submitted to courts, the Martyrs Foundation, the Pension Authority, the Article 140 Committee dealing with claims arising from Iraq’s disputed-territories process, and the Social Welfare Foundation, alongside fraudulent identities issued in the names of living and deceased people and manipulated electronic visas using altered barcodes.

The properties and loans exposed to manipulation exceeded four billion dinars ($3.05 million).

The second-largest case fell in Saladin, where eight employees of the Saladin Provincial Office were arrested under judicial warrants in a financial-corruption case. A provincial spokesperson said warrants had been issued for 54 employees over administrative violations dating back several years.

Al-Diwaniyah, Kirkuk, and Saladin

Four contractors were detained in Al-Diwaniyah by a joint Counter-Terrorism Service and Federal Integrity Commission force after raids tied to municipal funds allegedly disbursed contrary to regulations. Reports referred to cash, gold, and luxury vehicles allegedly found during the operations, though no quantities or values were officially confirmed.

In Kirkuk, authorities arrested the director of the provincial Veterinary Department and the head of the veterinary section in Shwan district under a judicial order over financial and administrative corruption allegations, with the amounts undisclosed.

Two colonels in the Saladin Traffic Directorate were arrested by the General Traffic Directorate over alleged embezzlement, forgery, and manipulation of traffic-fine revenues. The alleged schemes were initially linked to 1.8 billion dinars ($1.37 million) and more than 350 million dinars ($267,176), a combined total exceeding 2.15 billion dinars ($1.64 million).

Federal Integrity Commission investigators also caught a department director in the Kirkuk Water Resources Directorate while allegedly receiving money from a citizen. The operation followed a complaint accusing the official of demanding payment to complete a transaction or provide administrative facilitation.

In Saladin, a security force accompanied by the Federal Integrity Commission arrested Provincial Council member Kamel Abbas Ashraf on corruption charges. The underlying allegations and financial amounts were not disclosed.

Kirkuk Checkpoint Officers

Kirkuk Operations Command reported that officers accused of exploiting their positions to facilitate smuggling through the Darman and Jemen checkpoints had been detained and referred for investigation, without stating an exact number. Because no figure was published, those officers were excluded from the weekly total.

The operation also produced the seizure of 163 vehicles carrying smuggled goods without customs payment, though those seizures covered 45 days and do not represent a weekly figure.

Where the Week's Cases Fell

Measured by case category, the cross-institutional forgery network accounted for 13 of the 31 detentions, provincial administration for eight, municipal administration and public contracting for four, agriculture and veterinary services for two, and interior and traffic administration for two. Water resources and the local legislature accounted for one detention each.

By location, Al-Diwaniyah recorded 17 detentions, Saladin 11, and Kirkuk three.

Money Seized and Recovered

The reporting period produced substantial recoveries in the continuing investigation into former Oil Ministry undersecretary Adnan Al-Jumaili. The first judicial announcement covered 13 billion dinars ($9.92 million), $400,000, 40 gold bars weighing one kilogram each, and five kilograms of gold jewelry, while a second, announced on July 26, covered 27 billion dinars ($20.61 million) said to have been hidden with several people.

Combined, the newly reported Al-Jumaili recoveries reached 40 billion dinars ($30.53 million), $400,000, and 45 kilograms of gold. No new arrest was reported in either update.

The judiciary separately announced the recovery of 1,143,847,719 dinars ($873,166) in a financial-fraud case, again without a new arrest. Total newly reported seizures and recoveries for the period stood at 41,143,847,719 dinars ($31.41 million), $400,000, and 45 kilograms of gold.

Read more: Can Iraq recover billions in stolen assets abroad?

Penalties, Audits, and the Next Phase

Several public-money cases advanced without new arrests. In Dhi Qar, a Nasiriyah municipal official and his wife, also a municipal employee, were each sentenced to five years in prison and fined 1.8 billion dinars ($1.37 million) and $800,000, for combined penalties of 3.6 billion dinars ($2.75 million) and $1.6 million.

In Diyala, a Provincial Office accounts official was investigated over the premature release of a guarantee on a road-maintenance and paving contract valued at 1.2616 billion dinars ($963,053), after inspectors found cracks, subsidence, and serious damage months after completion. The official was presented before an investigative judge but was not confirmed detained.

Federal Board of Supreme Audit findings pointed to further vulnerabilities. Defense Ministry scrap at the Al-Taji and Balad sites was sold directly for 200,000 dinars ($153) per ton, while comparable scrap at the Officers Club was sold through public auction for 630,000 dinars ($481) per ton, a difference of 430,000 dinars ($328) per ton.

The findings also flagged food-ration supply contracts awarded to a single private company, bonuses paid from performance-guarantee deposits tied to the food-basket contract, and contracts awarded without proper verification of letters of guarantee.

A parliamentary file alleging financial and administrative corruption within Federal Board of Supreme Audit offices, including concealment of corruption files and preferential treatment for relatives of influential officials, was completed for referral to the Federal Integrity Commission and Public Prosecution. No arrest had been announced in connection with the audit findings by the end of July 26.

Over Two Weeks

Over the two weeks from July 12 to 26, Shafaq News documented 58 confirmed detentions across the two reporting periods, spanning six provinces and operational jurisdictions: Baghdad, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Al-Diwaniyah, Diyala, and Saladin.

The first week recorded 27 detentions across defense and military works, customs and border administration, oil, municipal administration, health, finance and pensions, and the legislature, while the second week recorded 31 detentions across a cross-institutional forgery network, provincial administration, municipal contracting, agriculture and veterinary services, traffic administration, water resources, and the Saladin Provincial Council.

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