Iraqi Court summons a lawmaker for wasting public money

Shafaq News/ On Saturday, Karkh Investigation Court issued an order summoning a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee for wasting public funds.

The lawmaker is summoned for "issuing a recommendation to disburse the tax revenues before completing the audits by the regulatory bodies." The court explained.

Last week, the Acting Finance Minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, revealed that a $2.5 billion theft hit Rafidain Bank.

He pointed out that the Finance Ministry's Investigation provides formal proof that a "specific group" stole 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (2.5 billion dollars) from taxes revenues of Rafidain Bank.

Rafidain Bank is the largest bank in Iraq, with 165 branches inside Iraq and branches in Cairo, Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Sana'a, Amman, and Jabal Amman.

Today, the Integrity Committee of the Iraqi parliament said it would summon the country's dismissed acting finance minister and a group of former and current officials in the ministry to investigate the multi-billion dollar corruption hoax.

Iraq ranks 157 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption perceptions index. Criminal charges are rare in Iraq and usually limited to mid-level government officials.