ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Prominent Sunni politician Muthanna al-Samarrai and lawmaker Ziyad al-Janabi received prison sentences for garnering illicit funds from oil contracts, the Federal Commission of Integrity (FCoI) said Thursday. Both were arrested in June as a part of a nationwide anti-corruption campaign initiated by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in late June.
Samarrai was sentenced to six years in prison “for the offense of benefiting from works and contracts,” the commission’s statement read, and is “obligated” to return “the benefit amount totaling 30 billion dinars [$20 billion].”
The Sunni politician is the leader of Azm alliance, the second largest Sunni faction in the parliament after Taqadum, and is a member in the Iraqi legislature. He was arrested in late June as a part of the government’s anti-corruption drive in coordination with the FCoI.
The integrity commission stated in Thursday’s ruling that Samarrai has “exploited his oversight position” as a lawmaker to “indirectly benefit through intermediaries from works, contracts, and procurements carried out at the [state-owned] North Refineries Company (NRC) and the South Refineries Company.”
It further stated that the politician “played a role in referring contracts, purchase orders, and disbursing funds to individuals and companies linked to him through four private companies,” obtaining benefits reaching the above-mentioned amount.
In another statement, the FCoI issued a ruling against Ziyad al-Janabi, a lawmaker affiliated with Taqadum, sentencing him to five years of “severe imprisonment” after he was found guilty of “indirectly benefiting through intermediaries from contracts” with the NRC.
Janabi was also obliged to return “financial gains” and “illicit funds” from the contracts amounting to 4 billion dinars ($2.7 billion).
The lawmaker has “interfered in awarding contracts and disbursing funds to individuals and companies connected to him in order to achieve personal financial gains,” the FCoI said.
He was arrested in Erbil and subsequently handed over to federal authorities.
Both Samarrai and Janabi were convicted according to Article 319 in the Iraqi Penal Code, which addresses the utilization of public office for unlawful gains. Prison sentences under the provision could reach 10 years.
Of relevant note, both figures were arrested in relation to Adnan Jumaili’s case, the former Iraqi Deputy Minister for Refining Affairs and general director of NRC.
Jumaili was arrested in late May on charges of embezzling around 200 billion Iraqi dinars ($152 million), an investigation that uncovered a broader network of officials across state institutions and led to the seizure of millions of dollars, gold, vehicles, and real estate titles.
