Wheat marketing: billions lost due to corrupt and damaged stocks

Shafaq News/ Independent deputy Amir Al-Mamouri on Thursday disclosed fraudulent activities in the marketing of wheat crops, citing instances of "corrupt" and "damaged" wheat leading to the loss of billions of dinars.

In an interview with Shafaq News Agency, Al-Mamouri explained, "In February 2024, we discovered damaged wheat in one of the warehouses valued at 15 billion dinars, which was infested due to improper storage." He added, "Officials managed to combat the infestation in one day and moved the wheat out in March 2024 under the name of a farmer, selling and marketing it to other warehouses."

Al-Mamouri noted that "the test results from the Seed Testing and Certification Department of the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the wheat failed to meet standards and indicated that the wheat in the warehouses was old, dating back to previous years, and was falsely marketed as a new crop for 2024."

"We have requested the Prime Minister and the Minister of Trade to re-examine the wheat stored in silos and take samples to uncover instances of fraud and mismanagement," the MP continued. "This wheat leaves government warehouses only to be resold to the government, a practice that recurs annually."

Al-Mamouri revealed that "old wheat has been stored for years in warehouses in Al-Suwaira, Babil, and other provinces. This was discovered during a visit to one of the warehouses accompanied by members of the parliamentary agriculture committee."

"I have submitted the wheat file to the Prime Minister's office, the Integrity Commission, the Public Prosecution, the Supreme Judicial Council, and the National Security Council. This is an important issue, and we lose billions every year." He concluded.