Baghdad Court Uncovers $10 Million Embezzlement by Security Officers
The president of Baghdad’s Karkh Criminal Court announced on Thursday the discovery of a major embezzlement scheme involving a group of security officers who allegedly misappropriated 16 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately $10 million), according to state media reports.
“A group of officers in one of the security agencies were exposed who embezzled amounts of 16 billion dinars,” said Mohammed Salman, president of the Karkh Criminal Court. The revelation underscores the pervasive corruption that continues to plague Iraq’s public sector.
Salman emphasized the judiciary’s role in combating corruption, stating, “Fighting corruption is not just talk, and the judiciary’s role begins after the crime is committed.” He also highlighted the challenges posed by Iraq’s cash-based economy, which complicates the tracking and prosecution of corruption-related crimes.
Iraq has long struggled with endemic corruption, with official estimates from 2022 indicating that over $400 billion has disappeared from state coffers since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Transparency International’s 2023 index ranked Iraq as the joint tenth most corrupt country in the world.
The discovery follows a high-profile scandal known as the “Heist of the Century,” in which $2.5 billion (3.7 trillion dinars) in tax funds were stolen from a government bank. An investigation by the Iraqi finance ministry in October 2022 revealed that five companies orchestrated the theft during the tenure of former Finance Minister Ali Allawi. The incident drew widespread public outrage and further exposed the scale of corruption in Iraq’s financial system.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has declared the fight against corruption a top priority for his administration. During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly last year, he pledged to intensify efforts to combat corruption, which he described as one of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
The exposure of the embezzlement scheme involving security officers is expected to intensify calls for stronger anti-corruption measures and increased accountability across Iraq’s government institutions.