Integrity Commission dismantles Nineveh money laundering network

Shafaq News- Nineveh

Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity has broken up a four-member network in Nineveh accused of impersonating officials to manipulate property deals and launder money, seizing more than 40 properties as well as vehicles, gold and cash, the commission said on Monday.

Operating under a court warrant, investigators found that the suspects claimed to represent an official body and used that cover to buy properties and make investments illegally, while forging, altering and subdividing property records. The properties, located in prime areas of the province and registered to the suspects and others, are worth substantial sums, and several have been frozen.

The operation also resulted in the seizure of five vehicles, with five more frozen, as well as gold jewelry the commission attributed to illicit funds. On a farm owned by one suspect, investigators found about 100 million dinars (about $66,000) in proceeds from the sale of rare animals.

The operation was carried out under Article 36 of the 2015 Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Law, and the case was referred to an investigative judge.

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