Iraq launched one of its largest anti-corruption campaigns in recent years on Saturday, June 28, arresting 67 people — including lawmakers, businessmen, and government officials — in what Iraqi outlet Shafaq News said was expected to expand to more than 200 senior figures within 72 hours.
The campaign is being led by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, a political newcomer and businessman who took office in May after President Nizar Amidi invited him to form a government. Shafaq News reported that the first phase of the operation was carried out under al-Zaidi’s “direct supervision.”
“The situation surrounding corruption and financial mismanagement can no longer be tolerated and ignored,” al-Zaidi said during a Cabinet session on Sunday.
Those arrested in the initial phase included lawmakers, civil servants, directors-general, politicians, and businessmen. Among the most prominent were Deputy Oil Minister for Distribution Affairs Ali Maarij Suwaidj al-Bahadli and Oil Ministry Undersecretary for Refining Affairs Adnan al-Jumaili.
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Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said on Monday that initial investigations by the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court found that al-Bahadli had amassed substantial assets. Authorities confiscated more than $11 million in cash, four billion Iraqi dinars (about $3.1 million), multiple real estate holdings, and luxury goods following his arrest. Iraqi News also published photographs showing suitcases filled with the seized cash.
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Al-Bahadli was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on May 7. In a statement, the agency had said Iraq’s deputy oil minister “abuses his position to facilitate the diversion of oil to be sold for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its proxy militias in Iraq.”
$86 million seized from a single official
According to reports released Tuesday by Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, investigators seized the equivalent of about $86 million in cash from al-Jumaili following his arrest. Authorities also confiscated 70 properties, 21 vehicles, and approximately three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of gold jewelry. Al Jazeera reported that the seized assets were linked to unjustified spending by al-Jumaili and his aides.
Shafaq News, citing a security source, reported that Iraqi security forces sealed off entrances to Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone before dawn on Sunday as part of the anti-corruption operation. Additional checkpoints and security screenings were established by the country’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), with exemptions granted only to students carrying examination cards.
“Several wanted individuals have either fled or gone into hiding inside Iraq, but tightened border and internal security measures have prevented any confirmed exits from the country,” the source told the media, adding that the number of detainees would “definitely increase.”
Hamed al-Fatlawi, a member of Iraq’s parliamentary Integrity Committee, told Shafaq News that the anti-corruption campaign marks a “fundamental shift” in Iraqi politics because it has targeted senior political figures for the first time.
He called for the campaign to be expanded nationwide, saying that governors, directors-general, and other officials found guilty of corruption should be prosecuted regardless of their political affiliation.
The latest crackdown comes alongside other high-profile anti-corruption cases this year. On Monday, former General Commission of Taxes Director-General Osama Hossam Jawdat was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Iraq’s Federal Commission of Integrity.
According to Iraqi News, the commission also ordered the confiscation of 22 high-value properties registered in Jawdat’s wife’s name, including 10 in Baghdad and 12 investment properties in Turkey.
