Four Al-Anbar education staff arrested over fraud

Shafaq News- Al-Anbar

Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity arrested four employees of Al-Anbar's Education Directorate on Wednesday over allegations they forged documents to secure salary payments for a colleague who had resigned six years earlier.

According to the commission, the suspects hid the employee's resignation records and forged a letter stating he had returned to work, supported by a second letter confirming continuous service. An administrative order then approved back pay for the time he was away. The scheme resulted in retroactive payments covering 2020 to 2026, which the suspects allegedly took for themselves.

Negligence in reviewing the paperwork allowed the transaction to go through and led to the misuse of public funds, the commission said. Its investigators recovered the money that had been paid out.

An investigative judge at the Ramadi court for integrity cases ordered the four to be detained under Articles 289 and 298 of Iraq's Penal Code, which cover forging official documents and using forged documents.

Earlier this month, a security source told Shafaq News that two employees in the directorate's accounts department had been arrested over the alleged reinstatement of a dismissed employee.

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