The Presidency of the Republic is developing a legal code to recover smuggled Iraqi funds

[size=52]The Presidency of the Republic is developing a legal code to recover smuggled Iraqi funds[/size]

[size=45]The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, confirmed that the presidency is in the process of developing a legal code on mechanisms for recovering stolen funds. In an interview followed by (Al-Mada), Saleh said, "The Presidency of the Republic is in the process of developing a legal code dealing with the mechanisms of recovering the stolen and found funds abroad."[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The file of corruption is dangerous and huge and needs broader and deeper treatments," noting that "with all these challenges there were procedures and courts that worked to rule on important corruption cases."[/size]
[size=45]And Saleh continued, "The Presidency of the Republic is in the process of developing a legal code that we will deliberate on with the House of Representatives, to recover the looted money from Iraq. It may have gone to capitals and investments abroad."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "There are important measures and striking financial corruption is a basic pillar for establishing security, and without it, security will not be established."[/size]
[size=45]And the President of the Republic added, "We are interested in having fair elections, and the Iraqi citizen feels reassured that his vote is protected and his decision is respected and that it is not tampered with through fraud and other measures."[/size]
[size=45]Previously, monitoring bodies concerned with combating corruption said that many of those convicted of smuggling money outside Iraq claimed that they were opposed to the political process, which enabled them to remain outside the country. She added: The smuggled money is estimated at $ 500 billion.[/size]
[size=45]Said Yassin Musa, a former member of the Anti-Corruption Council, said in a statement to (Al-Mada) a month ago, that "the procedures for recovering Iraqi funds from abroad are part of the task of the Integrity Commission and the Fund for Refunds," indicating: "We need the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice to intensify efforts in concluding Bilateral and collective agreements and contracts with countries to recover fugitive criminals and freeze and seize smuggled money.[/size]
[size=45]He added, "What we seek is to analyze the judicial environment of the countries of refuge, that is, the haven of funds and fugitives in order to seize and freeze smuggled funds and return them to the Iraqi state," explaining that "the money recovery law guarantees that there are legal companies that perform this task. And Iraq failed to return its smuggled money, despite the formation of several committees to recover it. The last of these committees, which was formed in 2016, consisted of the Central Bank of Iraq, the Integrity Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Intelligence Service, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to follow up on the recovery of Iraqi funds smuggled abroad, but they did not lead to tangible results. A former member of the Anti-Corruption Council notes that "some of the convicts who are now abroad claim that they are opposed to the current political system, and therefore returning them to Iraq is considered a political targeting, which is what delayed or hindered all efforts aimed at retrieving this money," stressing that "these allegations represent a ruse." In order to stay in these countries and not to return the money to Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]"There are two types of money that we need to recover," he continues. The first was smuggled before the year 2003 and registered in the names of the former regime's men and their collaborators, and the second after the year 2003 and the judgments issued in absentia against convicts require their recovery from abroad, along with the smuggled money. Successive governments have relied on foreign lawyers to recover the money, but without interest, while lawyers ’wages have reached nearly $ 9 million, which the government requires to pay.[/size]
[size=45]The United Nations expressed its desire to provide procedural facilities to the Iraqi authorities regarding removing the hand of smuggled and frozen Iraqi funds for the purpose of retrieving them.[/size]
[size=45]Last October, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi announced the establishment of an international financial alliance, under the name of the "Economic Contact Group," which takes on its efforts to help Iraq "in advisory", in overcoming its economic crisis. [/size][size=45]And the Integrity Commission had indicated in its annual report that it presented a month ago that it had worked during the year 2020 to issue (120) judicial decisions in absentia to receive the fugitive convicts and accused wanted by the judiciary, and it had opened (51) extradition files for fugitive accused and convicted persons. [/size][size=45]To prove their departure from Iraq, including (2) ministers and those of his rank, and (25) of those with special ranks and general managers.[/size]
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