Iraq seeks Interpol alerts for former officials over US$2.5 billion tax theft
- The scandal centres on suspected illegitimate cash withdrawals from a bank account belonging the country’s tax commission
- Iraq said it was working to extradite people involved in the theft from countries including the UAE, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and also the US and UK
The scandal centres on suspected illegitimate cash withdrawals from a bank account belonging to the commission between 2021 and 2022 totalling around US$2.5 billion, according to Iraqi officials – a staggering amount even in a country that regularly ranks among the world’s most corrupt.
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Hanoun said the judiciary would also ask for notices to be issued for the private secretary and a political adviser to former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Kadhimi and former finance minister Ali Allawi have both denied involvement. The allegations of corruption were revealed late last year just before a new government came to power.
Allawi resigned from Kadhimi’s government in August 2022 citing political interference in government work and corruption. He has since said that he took steps to prevent theft from occurring at the tax commission but that his decisions were ignored by other officials.
Reuters could not immediately reach the other officials for comment.
