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Iraq probes $2.5 billion 'theft' from tax agency

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Iraqi dinars sit out at a currency exchange in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/10/17/money.jpg"/><figcaption>Iraqi dinars sit out at a currency exchange in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. <em>Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash </em></figcaption></figure></div><p>BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi authorities are investigating the &quot;theft&quot; of $2.5 billion (approximately P149 billion in Philippine currency) from the tax authority, officials said Sunday, in the latest corruption case to hit the country.</p><p>State news agency INA reported Saturday that an internal probe by the finance ministry found the money had been withdrawn from the agency&#x27;s account at a state-owned bank. </p><p>The ministry has asked the government&#x27;s anti-corruption body to investigate, INA said, without naming the officials embroiled in the case.</p><p>Prime minister-designate Mohammad Shia al-Sudani has vowed to tackle endemic corruption in the country and tweeted on Sunday: &quot;We will not allow Iraqis&#x27; money to be robbed.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We will never hesitate to take real measures to stop the corruption that has so brazenly spread across all levels of government.&quot;</p><p>The finance ministry&#x27;s probe uncovered &quot;the theft of 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $2.5 billion) from the account of the general commission for taxes at Rafidain Bank&quot;, INA reported.</p><p>Local media have published a document from the tax authority showing the money had been withdrawn between September 2021 and August 2022.</p><p>It had been transferred to the accounts of five different companies using 247 cheques, and immediately withdrawn from those accounts.</p><p>&quot;Who are the real owners of these companies?&quot; asked Iraqi political analyst Sajad Jiyad on Twitter. &quot;Who authorized these cheques to be given to the companies? How did it go undetected for a year, and which politicians are complicit?&quot;</p><div><strong>&#x27;Pervasive corruption&#x27;</strong></div><p>Ihsan Ismail, the recently discharged acting finance minister, pointed to a &quot;specific group&quot; in a Saturday statement, without elaborating.</p><p>The anti-corruption commission announced Sunday it has launched an investigation, and said in a statement that it will provide the judiciary with all the information and documents it gathers &quot;so that it can make the appropriate decisions&quot; on individuals implicated in the case.</p><p>Iraq ranks a lowly 157 out of 180 countries in Transparency International&#x27;s corruption perceptions index. Criminal charges are rare in Iraq and usually limited to mid-level government officials.</p><p>&quot;Pervasive corruption is a major root cause of Iraqi dysfunctionality,&quot; UN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council in early October.</p><p>&quot;And frankly, no leader can claim to be shielded from it.&quot;</p><p>Iraq is a major producer of oil, and revenues from the sector feed 90 percent of the federal government budget.</p><p>A wave of anti-regime protests in late 2019 were spurred in large part by anger over corruption and the related dilapidation of public services.</p><div><strong>ak/tgg/ami/fz/hc</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ci5jqHSbIYM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Local media published a document from the tax authority showing 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars had been withdrawn between September 2021 and August 2022.