The Federal Board of Supreme Audit has revealed details of an investigation it conducted regarding a significant corruption case involving banks selling dollars to citizens wishing to travel outside Iraq. It has been shown that over 151,000 citizens purchased U.S. dollars for travel purposes, yet they did not leave Iraq, resulting in these dollars being sold in the parallel market.
According to documents from the Board of Supreme Audit, the total amount involved in this "fraud" operation exceeded $600 million purchased for travel purposes, but in reality, ended up in the parallel market to achieve profits due to the price difference. The official rate provided by banks is 1,300 dinars per dollar, while the price in the parallel "black" market is around 1,500 dinars per dollar.
The investigation conducted by the Federal Board of Supreme Audit found that "the audit of cash sales by the Central Bank of Iraq of U.S. dollars for travelers revealed that the number of travelers according to the electronic platform totaled 1,481,186, while the actual number of travelers via border crossings was 1,329,246." This indicates that "the increase in the final number of travelers recorded on the electronic platform was 151,940."
The investigation indicates that "the total amount disbursed was approximately $607,760,000 more than what was needed, which marks the sale of dollars at the official rate to customers without confirming their travel, thus benefiting from the price difference in the parallel market."
A document issued by the Integrity Commission on April 7 of this current month exposed a corruption operation related to the Central Bank of Iraq granting large loans to private bank owners, which they exploited to purchase dollars from the currency auction, rather than for establishing investment projects, as was originally planned for obtaining these loans. This occurred while the Central Bank ignored a court ruling from the Rusafa Investigation Court regarding integrity, money laundering, and economic crime, which ordered administrative investigations and the assessment of damages to public funds.
