ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Some 14 billion Iraqi dinars (about $10.7 million) in “embezzled” funds were recovered from a rainwater drainage pit, Baghdad’s judiciary reported Thursday, as part of the ongoing anti-corruption investigation involving former deputy oil minister Adnan al-Jumaili.
“An investigating judge at the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court announced the seizure of 14 billion Iraqi dinars in the case of detained oil ministry undersecretary for refining affairs Adnan al-Jumaili and his accomplices,” Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) said in a statement.
The Council added that “the funds were found hidden in a rainwater drainage pit,” noting that the recovery resulted from “accurately tracking financial proceeds from waste in projects implemented by the accused [Jumaili] and other parties to the case.”
The case of Jumaili has emerged as a flashpoint in the anti-corruption crackdown Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi launched in late June known as ‘Operation Dawn’. The push, ongoing in coordination with the Federal Commission of Integrity, has thus far netted tens of millions of dollars in squandered funds as well as dozens of senior politicians and officials.
The recovered cash tied to Jumaili's case has now risen to around $131 million, in addition to at least 70 confiscated real estate units and eight kilograms of gold, most of which was found buried underground.
In a previous statement, the SJC noted that Jumaili's confessions in detention facilitated the arrest of other individuals involved in graft, as well as the seizure of other squandered funds.
Another prominent oil ministry official who recently made headlines is deputy oil minister Ali Maarij al-Bahadly, who is on the US sanctions list for facilitating oil sales for Iran. Iraqi authorities previously seized around $14 million in cash from him, hidden in bags placed inside the walls of one of his properties.
Iraqi Prime Minister Zaidi was quoted on Thursday reiterating his commitment to the anti-corruption crackdown without "selectivity" in choosing corruption dossiers to address.
In remarks relayed by the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA), Zaidi reportedly added that arrests being made are not on a discriminatory basis and have "nothing to do with sectarian, ethnic, or any other affiliations."
The premier further stressed that there are no "red lines" when it comes to protecting public funds and that "those involved in corruption have only one option: to return the stolen funds, as they belong to the Iraqi people."
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