ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry on Monday announced the arrest of one of the main suspects in the theft of $2.5 billion in tax funds as he was attempting to flee the country from Baghdad International Airport.
An investigation by the Iraqi finance ministry earlier this month concluded that $2.5 billion dollars in tax funds were stolen from a bank by five companies during the tenure of former finance minister Ali Allawi.
Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council issued arrest warrants and travel bans for three individuals suspected of involvement in the colossal theft on Thursday. One of the suspects, Noor Zuhair Jassim, the managing director of an oil services company, was arrested by security forces on Monday evening.
“We will not allow its [Iraq’s] money to be stolen or neglect anything that might endanger its security,” read a statement by Interior Minister Othman al-Ghanmi following Jassim’s arrest, expressing his gratitude for the judiciary for issuing the “necessary approvals.”
The ministry in a later statement denied any pressure from political or governmental parties on Ghanmi to release the suspect, saying the arrest occurred “without any hesitation.”
Outgoing Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi extended his gratitude to the relevant parties for Jassim’s arrest, stating that bringing perpetrators of public money theft was a priority of his cabinet.
— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي (@MAKadhimi) October 24, 2022
Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state, and official figures published last year estimated that well over 400 billion dollars has gone missing from state coffers since former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in 2003.
The crisis-hit country ranks 157 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.
