Tangled mafias acquire the ports: the government receives only 10% of the revenues!

[size=52]Tangled mafias acquire the ports: the government receives only 10% of the revenues![/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / AFP[/size]
[size=45]Along the land and sea borders of Iraq, an intricate and complex cartel carries out smuggling operations in Turkey, through which millions of dollars that are supposed to enter the government coffers are diverted into the pockets of parties, armed groups and officials.[/size]
[size=45]"This interconnected network is" indescribable, "says a customs official. It is worse than the law of the jungle. ”[/size]
[size=45]"In the jungle, the animals eat at least and get saturated," he adds. These men are never satisfied. ”[/size]
[size=45]Like most government officials, port workers and importers interviewed by Agence France-Presse over a period of six months, the employee asked to speak without revealing his identity for fear of endangering his life.[/size]
[size=45]In the country that ranks 21 in the world in the corruption ladder, according to the non-governmental organization Transparency International, boring bureaucracy and chronic corruption pave a pathway to absorb state resources.[/size]
[size=45]In an economy based primarily on oil, and in light of the great weakness in the agricultural and industrial sectors and the absence of any possibility of obtaining revenues for either of them, customs duties constitute the most important source of revenues.[/size]
[size=45]However, the federal Iraqi government does not control these resources, which are distributed among the parties and armed groups, most of which are close to Iran, which share control of the border crossings and embezzle as much money as possible.[/size]
[size=45]"There is a kind of collusion between officials, political parties, gangs and corrupt businessmen," Finance Minister Ali Allawi told Agence France-Presse, noting that "this system as a whole contributes to the plunder of the state."[/size]
[size=45]A system designed to fail[/size]
[size=45]Iraq imports the vast majority of its goods, and is mostly dependent on Iran, Turkey and China for everything from gas to electricity, food and electronics.[/size]
[size=45]Officially, Iraq imported $ 21 billion worth of non-oil goods in 2019, according to the latest data provided by the government, most of which passed through five official crossings on the 1,600-kilometer-long border with Iran, and one on the border with Turkey, which extends over about 370 km. And through the giant port of Umm Qasr in the southern province of Basra.[/size]
[size=45]"If you want to import in the right way, you end up paying thousands of dollars as a delay fine," an importer based in a country in the Middle East told AFP, adding that this system "is designed for failure."[/size]
[size=45]This led, according to officials, port workers, importers and analysts, to the emergence of a parallel import system through the land crossings and the port of Umm Qasr, to be undertaken by parties and armed groups. Most of the profits are generated from Umm Qasr port, being the port through which the largest amount of goods enter the country.[/size]
[size=45]Officials confirmed to (AFP) that most of the entry points are informally controlled by armed factions. These factions have economic offices to finance themselves, and they were established even before the formation of the Popular Mobilization Forces. "If you want a short cut, you go to the militias or parties," said an Iraqi intelligence officer who investigated the tax evasion issue.[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The importers say they prefer to lose a hundred thousand dollars (paid as a bribe) rather than losing their goods entirely."[/size]
[size=45]Members of the parties and factions benefiting from this, or their acquaintances and relatives, work as border agents or inspectors and in the police, and take money from importers who want to bypass official procedures or obtain a discount on fees.[/size]
[size=45]The Popular Mobilization Forces publicly deny these allegations, but sources close to factions such as Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah have acknowledged the influence of various factions on the borders, enumerating the sidewalks and centers through which tax evasion takes place on various types of goods, consistent with what Customs officials and an intelligence officer told France Press.[/size]
[size=45]Savior[/size]
[size=45]Workers at Umm Qasr port, officials and analysts confirmed that the Badr Organization, for example, a faction founded in Iran in the 1980s, runs the Mandali crossing on the Iranian border.[/size]
[size=45]"If you are a cigarette dealer, go to the economic office of Kataib Hezbollah in Jadriya (in Baghdad), knock on the door, and say I want to coordinate with you," the intelligence officer said. One of the main people in the wheel of corruption is the "savior", meaning the government customs official who often acts as a mediator for armed groups and political parties.[/size]
[size=45]"There is no such thing as a" redeemer "without affiliation, the intelligence officer said." They are all supported by the parties. "[/size]
[size=45]After paying cash in exchange for small operations or through bank transfers for larger transactions, the broker falsifies official papers, by distorting the type, number and total value of the commodity being imported, which leads to a reduction in the value of the customs duties that merchants have to pay, which in the end are much less than Actual value of the merchandise.[/size]
[size=45]One importer told AFP that registering a smaller amount than the real amount provides the importer with a discount on customs duties of up to 60 percent.[/size]
[size=45]A common example of this is the import of cigarettes, whose official import tariff is 30 percent of their value, in addition to an additional 100 percent to raise their price in the local market in order to encourage consumers to buy goods manufactured in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]"Instead of paying at least $ 65,000 per truck, you end up paying only $ 50,000," the customs official says.[/size]
[size=45]Clearers also manipulate the total estimated value of the shipment. This value is initially recorded on the import license, but the broker has the power to review it at the point of entry and thus reduce it in order to reduce the value of the fees.[/size]
[size=45]An official in Umm Qasr narrated that a customs agent evaluated a shipment of iron so cheaply that the importer paid customs duties of $ 200,000, while he should have paid more than $ 1 million.[/size]
[size=45]"This significant influence of the savior is not natural at all," the importer said.[/size]
[size=45]And through relationships with influential people, some goods leak out without scrutiny at all. In this context, the customs officer said, "I am not corrupt, but I had to pass the shipment without inspection because it is linked to an influential party."[/size]
[size=45]In other cases, merchants take forged import licenses and receipts to the Central Bank of Iraq, which then sends a payment in US dollars to a fake shipping company outside Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]These transactions allow money laundering, according to a Turkish agent and Iraqi bank officials.[/size]
[size=45]An importer said that he paid $ 30,000 to a Customs employee in Umm Qasr to approve the entry of used electrical equipment, the import of which would be an offense.[/size]
[size=45]He added that he regularly paid "a bribe to a port police officer" to inform him of the surprise checks. For an additional fee, the officer offered him "to send patrols to disrupt the exit of competing goods."[/size]
[size=45]'Real mafia'[/size]
[size=45]Seeing the border crossings as an infinite source of money, public officials pay their superiors money to appoint them there.[/size]
[size=45]An official at the Mandali crossing boasts that the crossing pays bribes of up to ten thousand dollars for the youngest employee every day.[/size]
[size=45]Finance Minister Allawi expresses his regret, saying, "The price of the smallest job in customs ranges between 50 thousand dollars to one hundred thousand dollars, and sometimes increases to many times that." Parties and armed groups use their political influence to maintain their positions that allow them to accumulate money, and they do not hesitate to threaten the use of violence.[/size]
[size=45]Minister Allawi said, "We should get seven billion dollars from customs annually, but in reality, only ten to 12 percent of the resources reach the Ministry of Finance."[/size]
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