Iraq detains five tax officials over $1.4M in losses

Shafaq News- Diyala

Iraqi authorities arrested five employees at a tax office in Iraq's Diyala province after investigators uncovered nearly 2 billion Iraqi dinars (roughly $1.4M) in public funds lost due to uncollected payments owed to the state treasury, Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity stated on Monday.

The commission said a team from the investigation and judicial seizure division at its Diyala office found that uncollected fines are related to violations at the province's livestock market and fruit wholesale market. The team also found the employees had failed to collect income tax owed by several taxpayers.

“The employees' gross errors caused financial harm to the tax authority,” the commission said, adding that as a result of the investigation, many taxpayers repaid 703,403,000 dinars (about $537,000) to the state treasury, and authorities placed holds on the movable and immovable assets of eight other taxpayers.