Following recent raids across various regions in Iraq, leading to the arrest of dozens of officials accused of corruption, the Integrity Commission has reaffirmed its ongoing collaboration with the Central Bank to curb sources of money laundering.
Mohammad Ali Al-Lami, the head of the Federal Integrity Commission, announced today, Thursday, that he has agreed with the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Nizar Nasser Hussein, to dry up money laundering outlets.
In a statement, Al-Lami emphasized "the importance of adopting parallel financial investigations as an effective tool in tracking corruption crime proceeds and uncovering their paths," underscoring the "necessity of tightening control and regulating money laundering outlets, which will contribute to protecting public funds and enhancing integrity through the collaborative efforts of relevant institutions."
Additionally, Al-Lami mentioned that during his meeting with the Central Bank Governor, they discussed ways to enhance cooperation and coordination between the two sides to support efforts aimed at protecting the financial system, entrenching principles of transparency and integrity, and mutual support in implementing measures to curb corruption crimes, money laundering, and financial irregularities.
On his part, the Central Bank Governor, Nizar Nasser, stressed "the importance of documenting collaboration with regulatory bodies due to its impact in protecting public funds, reducing corruption and financial breaches, and reinforcing trust in the financial system, as well as establishing transparency standards."
This announcement comes after legal advisor Judge Munir Haddad revealed that the amount of embezzled funds since 2003 until now has exceeded the two trillion dollar mark, with theft figures and properties of the accused surpassing the limits of logic and reason, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
He also added that "investigations with the apprehended suspects are ongoing, and there are no final statistics on the number of detainees as it continues to increase." He noted that daily raids are ongoing, mentioning that "the main current suspects have provided detailed confessions that have led the security and judicial agencies to apprehend additional suspects."
The arrest campaign began early morning last Sunday in Baghdad's Green Zone, with security forces raiding the offices and residences of politicians, resulting in the arrest of 47 suspects, including deputies and officials, on corruption charges based on the confessions of Deputy Oil Minister Adnan Al-Jumaili, who was detained last May.
It's worth noting that Iraq, which has recently started recovering from decades of conflict, suffers from poor public administration. Prime ministers often pledge to combat widespread corruption, but penalties in corruption cases rarely target the top echelons of power. Instead, they usually affect the mid-level spheres within the government.