CoI halts Al-Anbar land sale over $26M valuation gap
Shafaq News- Al-Anbar
Iraq’s Federal Integrity Commission (CoI) said on Thursday it halted the sale of a state property in Al-Anbar after finding a 34.292 billion IQD (about $26.2M) gap between its official valuation and estimated market value.
The 136-dunam* property, located at a prime site along the Euphrates River, had been valued at 3.129 billion IQD (about $2.39M), or 23 million IQD (about $17,600) per dunam, the commission said.
Investigators found similar land in the area was worth about 300 million IQD (about $229,000) per dunam, putting the property’s estimated total value at 37.422 billion IQD (about $28.6M).
The commission also reported irregularities in procedures to advertise the property for public auction.
An Al-Anbar integrity judge ordered the auction suspended while investigators continue gathering information. The judge also referred the documents for external auditing and ordered statements from legal representatives of the State Properties Department and Al-Anbar’s Real Estate Registration Directorate.
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*Iraqi dunam = 2,500 m²
