ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq’s parliamentary integrity committee said on Monday that it has “big corruption cases” against a number of former and current ministers, with an anti-corruption body saying it issued 58 warrants and summons last month.
The Integrity Commission, in an official statement on Monday, said that the Court of Integrity issued a total of 58 arrest warrants and summons orders in March against a number of officials, including a government minister and two parliamentarians.
“The Parliament's Integrity Committee has big corruption cases against a number of ministers in former PM Adil Abdul Mahdi's government, in addition to current ministers,” Karim Abu Souda, a member of the committee told state media.
On Monday, the head of the committee, Thabet Saeed, confirmed to Rudaw English the arrest of prominent businessman and politician Jamal al-Karbouli on suspicion of corruption within the industry and electricity ministries.
Karbouli is the founder of the National Movement for Reform and Development party, a Sunni political party represented in parliament.
According to Saeed, Karbouli was arrested in light of investigations into prominent contractor Bahaa al-Din al-Jourani, who was arrested for corruption in February accused of bribig officials in the ministries of industry and electricity.
Jourani confessed to the crimes and revealed Karbouli's involvement, Saeed added, who said Karbouli’s cousin Louay was also arrested for corruption in connection with the Ministry of Industry.
Iraqi media reports purport that Karbouli contacted Shiite politician Hadi al-Amiri to intervene and stop the arrest. Amiri's media office issued an official statement on Sunday to Telegram, denying his involvement.
In August, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi formed the anti-corruption committee, in a campaign to combat corruption, an issue which factored into the outbreak of the Iraqi protests in October 2019.
Iraq is ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International, which ranked it at 21st in 2020.
An arrest warrant was issued for Babil's former governor last month, who was accused of falsifying land documents.
The Integrity Commission recovered a billion dollars last year, according to a report released in February.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Jamal al-Karbouli as Mohammed al-Karbouli.
