Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity announced on Sunday that it had dismantled a forgery network accused of illegally obtaining residential land plots, bank loans, and public funds in Al-Diwaniyah through forged official documents.
Investigators arrested 13 suspects and seized more than 1,000 forged documents during coordinated raids on the municipality, civil status, passport, and residency directorates. A judge also ordered the seizure of 13 properties and suspended ownership transfer procedures pending the investigation.
The network, which allegedly included government employees, lawyers, and other individuals operating across several provinces, is accused of processing 243 fraudulent loan applications using forged endorsements and routine guarantees submitted to 12 state-owned banks. Authorities also uncovered forged residency certificates used to allocate 13 residential plots to ineligible recipients from outside the province, as well as falsified civil registry records to obtain compensation.
Among the seized documents were more than 600 forged residency certificates and civil registry records addressed to municipalities, state-owned banks, and the National Board of Pensions. Investigators also alleged that the suspects submitted forged civil registry records to courts to claim the rights of other individuals, sent fabricated documents to the Martyrs Foundation, the Board of Pensions, and other institutions, issued forged civil identity cards for both living and deceased individuals, and manipulated barcode data to create fake electronic visas for foreign countries.
The Commission estimated the value of the properties and loans linked to the forged transactions at more than four billion Iraqi dinars (over US$3.04M), adding that the investigation is continuing to identify additional suspects and pursue legal action.
On Saturday, a source told Shafaq News that authorities arrested three former and current senior officials from Al-Diwaniyah Municipality in an anti-corruption operation. Last week, the Commission announced the arrest of four municipality employees, including the head of a committee responsible for reviewing residential land applications, on allegations of deliberately causing financial harm to the state.
Read more: Iraq's Dawn Crackdown by numbers: 67 arrests explained