Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi investigators found 25 plastic water bottles stuffed with US dollar banknotes hidden inside a chimney at the home of detained Deputy Oil Minister for Refining Affairs Adnan al-Jumaili in Tikrit, a security source told Shafaq News on Thursday.

The search operation was conducted by the Federal Commission of Integrity as part of the ongoing nationwide anti-corruption campaign.

The source did not disclose the amount of money recovered from the bottles, noting that legal procedures remain underway under the supervision of judicial authorities overseeing the case.

Read more: Iraq's Dawn Crackdown by numbers: 67 arrests explained

Al-Jumaili was arrested in May in the Ishaqi area of Saladin province and dismissed from his post on June 2. His testimony under interrogation has led to arrest warrants for more than 70 officials, according to Iraqi judicial statements and Shafaq News sources, and forms the basis of a widening inquiry under the Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat al-Fajr), which has drawn in members of parliament, provincial officials, and businessmen.

On Monday, the Nineveh Integrity Investigation Court ordered the seizure of assets worth about 69 billion Iraqi dinars ($52M), in a money laundering and corruption case linked to al-Jumaili and other suspects. Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council separately reported the recovery of 375 kilograms of gold tied to the same case.

This story was followed by an updated report with later developments