A parliamentary committee reveals the fate of the tax money: part of it was smuggled abroad

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[size=52]A parliamentary committee reveals the fate of the tax money: part of it was smuggled abroad[/size]

[size=45]The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed the fate of the stolen funds from the secretariats of the Tax Authority, pointing out that part of it was smuggled outside Iraq and another was invested in buying real estate.[/size]
[size=45]Committee member Ikhlas Al-Dulaimi said, "The competent parliamentary committees held a series of meetings during the past days with the aim of discussing the file of the theft of 3.71 trillion dinars from the secretariats of the Tax Authority."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi added, "The meetings included officials in the Ministry of Finance and the Tax and Customs Authorities, to find out the circumstances of the accident."[/size]
[size=45]She pointed out that "the thefts took place over a whole year, from September of last year to October of this year, until all these sums were spent."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi explained, "The General Tax Authority is the first responsible for disbursing these amounts without any right."[/size]
[size=45]And she indicated, "Five companies were the ones who were specialized in exchange, and they came without authorization from the original custodian of the trusts, and these companies do not hold any agency or legal authority."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi believes, "The Tax Authority admitted that the exchange took place without any priorities, and therefore it is considered stolen from the state treasury."[/size]
[size=45]She stressed, "The Director General of Taxes confirmed the presence of large parties that participated in the thefts, and it is a large network that includes all institutions."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi stated, “The Chairman of the Finance Committee in the former parliament, Haitham Al-Jubouri, personally acted on him without the knowledge of the rest of the committee members, directed a letter not to audit the guarantee account in public taxes, and the Council of Ministers requested the Financial Supervision Bureau not to audit this account.”[/size]
[size=45]She stressed, "The Tax Authority invoked these two arguments, and there was no control over the amounts, leaving the door open to illegal behavior."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi explained, "The Minister of Finance sent a letter to the Tax Authority on the 11th of last year, preventing it from disposing of funds without returning to the ministry."[/size]
[size=45]And she added, "The Tax Authority did not comply with the minister's letter, but rather relied on non-interference directives issued by the Council of Ministers and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi called on the judicial and supervisory authorities, represented by the competent courts and the Integrity Commission, to exercise their role in holding the negligent accountable and recovering the stolen funds.[/size]
[size=45]He continued, "The companies that received the funds were established on the same dates, and are newly established only a year or less ago, and the funds were distributed to them in a way that suggests that they shared the shares."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Dulaimi added, "Part of these sums were smuggled and the other was invested in real estate, but we point out that all the measures currently taken by the relevant authorities are not at the required level."[/size]
[size=45]For her part, the chairperson of the committee, Mahasin Hamdoun, said that "the previous meetings discussed many issues, most notably the mechanism for disbursing the stolen amounts, and we diagnosed the mistakes for which a number of people are responsible."[/size]
[size=45]Hamdoun added, "These errors begin with the letter canceling the supervision of the Financial Supervision Bureau on the amounts of deposits in taxes and customs, and ending with the disbursement of funds by unreliable or newly established companies."[/size]
[size=45]She noted, "The committee heard what officials in the Ministry of Finance said about the circumstances of the case," stressing that "the negligent people are present and have been referred to the judiciary."[/size]
[size=45]And she noted, "The committee decided to withdraw its hand from the file, as it is under the watch of the judiciary, which is the competent courts that identify negligent people and impose legal penalties against them."[/size]
[size=45]And the Supreme Judicial Council announced in an official statement, “the issuance of summonses against the Director General of the General Tax Authority and his assistant, the supervisor of the financial and control department, the deputy of the financial department and the director of the financial department.”[/size]
[size=45]The statement added, "The judiciary issued arrest warrants against the owners of the companies and placed a precautionary seizure on their accounts, in whose favor the tax trusts were issued."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The formation of a joint audit committee from the Ministry of Finance, the General Tax Authority, Rafidain Bank and the Integrity Commission to audit the disbursed amounts."[/size]
[size=45]The statement confirmed, "The Second Karkh Investigation Court, which is specialized in integrity issues, decided to bring in a member of the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives for the previous session on the charge of intentional damage to state funds in accordance with the provisions of Article 340 of the Penal Code."[/size]
[size=45]The statement went on, "The accused issued a recommendation to disburse the tax deposits before completing the audits by the regulatory authorities."[/size]
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