A “historic” corruption deal fines an Iraqi government bank $600 million

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[size=52]A “historic” corruption deal fines an Iraqi government bank $600 million[/size]

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[size=45]The Iraqi judiciary issued a ruling to compensate the “Ishtar Gate” company with an amount of 600 million dollars as a penalty clause against the Rafidain Governmental Bank, due to the termination of a contract by the bank.[/size]
[size=45]The Parliamentary Integrity Committee confirmed that the contract bore suspicions of great corruption involving the Rafidain Bank.[/size]
[size=45]The ruling sparked angry official and popular reactions, due to the great corruption in the contract between the bank and the company for electronic payment systems.[/size]
[size=45]The former Minister of Housing and Reconstruction, Two Banks Rikani, wrote, “The Rafidain Bank contract and its penalty clause amounting to 600 million dollars, the electricity has been almost completely extinguished and the gasoline is scarce.. compelling evidence of the inability of state agencies to choose projects, nor to formulate contracts professionally and follow them, nor to choose contractors.[/size]
[size=45]Two Rikani banks called for a comprehensive restructuring of state institutions by professionals, warning that failure to restructure the institutions would lead to more collapse. Isn’t this an outrageous injustice against the state and public money? The journalist Abdel Samie Al-Azzawi tweeted: “The Ishtar Gate Company says that the fine clause in the contract is a consensual condition that can only be achieved by requiring one of the parties to implement the terms of the contract, which means that the Rafidain Bank “with its consent.” Pay a fine of 600 million dollars! Iraqi activists, bloggers and academics called for those involved in the corruption deal to be held accountable, especially since the funds allocated for compensation are large and sufficient to finance many projects that the Iraqi people lack.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Rafidain Bank had issued, earlier today, Monday, a clarification on the issue of the 600 million dollars, which was decided by the Iraqi judiciary as a fine in favor of the "Ishtar Gate" company.[/size]
[size=45]The bank said in a statement: “It would like to clarify to the public opinion about what was reported by the media regarding the court’s decision to pay a fine to the Ishtar Gate Company, and in this regard, the bank confirms that it had the need to contract with more than one electronic payment company at the time to expand the base of competition to provide The best services for citizens at acceptable prices, as invitations were sent to electronic payment companies licensed by the Central Bank of Iraq to submit their offers.[/size]
[size=45]He added: “The contract that was concluded with the Ishtar Gate Company was on 4/3/2021 by the former general manager of the bank before obtaining the Ministry’s approval according to the rules on the contract formula, as the contract violated many of the previous technical conditions that the Ministry had specified for the bidders. “.[/size]
[size=45]And he continued: “After presenting the contract to the ministry and reviewing the commercial aspects of it, which grants the bidder unjustified advantages and profits at the expense of the bank’s customers, and when the ministry was informed of the conclusion of the contract, the minister directed the re-audit of the contract in the interest of the ministry on 3/9/2021 or to cancel it if necessary where no The contract should be signed only with the approval of the legal department and the information technology department in the ministry and according to the previous instructions.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the matter was referred to investigation with the withdrawal of the hand of the former general manager of the bank at the time, with the file referred to the Integrity Commission to take legal measures against the negligent."[/size]
[size=45]The bank’s statement also indicated that, “The company resorted to the judiciary to request the termination of the contract and compensation after the Ministry’s decisive procedures, and the competent court issued its decision to terminate the contract with obligating the bank to the amount of compensation, as the bank continues to follow up the legal procedures where the unfair decision issued against him was appealed in the hope of returning Consider its content in a way that secures the preservation of public money.”[/size]
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