Iraq steps up push to reclaim stolen billions with UNDP help
Shafaq News – Baghdad
On Friday, Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity (CoI) discussed with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) efforts to recover smuggled public funds and hand over suspects wanted on corruption charges.
In a statement, Muthar Al-Jubouri, the Commission’s first deputy chairman, stressed that recovering smuggled funds remains one of the agency’s top priorities.
He outlined during the meeting several challenges Iraq faces when dealing with foreign jurisdictions, including differences in national legislation and the need to identify effective mechanisms for securing the return of stolen assets. Al-Jubouri urged that “international initiatives align with Iraqi law and administrative procedures.”
For his part, Yama Torabi, UNDP’s Justice Initiatives Project Director, affirmed readiness to support Iraq in preventing and combating corruption, helping build partnerships, and facilitating bilateral agreements related to asset recovery and the extradition of wanted persons.
Over the past two decades, experts estimate that Iraq may have lost between $250 billion and $450 billion through mismanaged or stolen funds. High-profile scandals include the so-called “Theft of the Century,” involving 3.7 trillion dinars (≈$2.5 billion) siphoned from tax deposits, and separate losses amounting to $18 billion in railway assets. While the government has referred multiple ministers for prosecution and signed new agreements to trace stolen assets abroad — recovering at least 51 fugitives — both the United Nations and domestic oversight bodies warn that entrenched political interference and weak judicial enforcement continue to hinder real reform.
Read more: Iraq's corrupt maze: Oil, bribes, and broken trust
