ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Former acting Kirkuk governor Rakan al-Jabouri was arrested on Monday in Baghdad on corruption-related charges after several cases against him were transferred from Kirkuk, according to sources.
“Rakan Jabouri was arrested in Baghdad,” Abdullah Mirwais, a member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, told Rudaw.
An informed source from the al-Rusafa Criminal Court in Baghdad had told Rudaw earlier in the day, that “Jabouri currently has five [active] cases against him in Baghdad courts.”
Speaking to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, the same source stated that the investigating judge handling Jabouri’s case on Saturday reviewed two corruption cases against the ex-Kirkuk governor and subsequently “issued an arrest warrant for Rakan al-Jabouri.”
Rudaw also learned that Jabouri has three additional cases against him in Kirkuk, bringing the total number of lawsuits against him to eight. The five cases in Baghdad were transferred at the plaintiffs’ request, due to a lack of progress in the Kirkuk courts.
The same well-placed source informed Rudaw that two of the ongoing corruption investigations relate to construction projects, with each involving the disappearance of 500 million dinars (around $380,000). Another case concerns 21 properties registered under the names of Jabouri’s kin in a single Kirkuk neighborhood, which “raises suspicion of corruption,” the source added.
The source further elaborated that Jabouri is being detained per Article 340 of Iraq’s Penal Code, which pertains to the actions of public employees and administrative officials involved in damage to public property.
Jabouri “is still in court and has yet to be transferred to prison,” the source explained, adding that “there is a lot of interference in the judicial proceedings.”
On Monday, Karwan Osman, head of the complaints department at the Kirkuk Provincial Council, told Rudaw that a Kirkuk court had “issued an arrest warrant for Jabouri” on Thursday, after he failed to appear before the court following a subpoena.
“According to the law, if he does not appear before the court within 72 hours [of his subpoena], an arrest warrant is issued for him,” Osman said.
Jabouri was appointed acting governor of Kirkuk in 2017, after Iraqi federal forces took control of the city from Kurdish authorities. His tenure ended in August.
In June, Iraq’s Federal Integrity Commission (FIC) said it had evidence that several real estate properties were transferred to Jabouri’s family members “in violation of the law.”
Around the same time, Dler Zidan, head of the Kirkuk Investment Authority told Rudaw that Jabouri had requested that a 235-Dunam housing project be granted to his brother, prompting a formal complaint.
Similarly, Kirkuk MP Dilan Ghafoor in June accused the former governor of gifting vehicles to the FIC’s office in Kirkuk.
Jabouri’s tenure as governor was marked by controversy. While some accused him of trying to revive Ba'ath-era Arabization policies to alter Kirkuk’s demographic makeup, others praised him for revitalizing neglected Arab neighborhoods.
Hardi Mohammed and Nahro Mohammed contributed to this report.
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