Parliament's Integrity: Noor Zuhair will remain under house arrest and more than half of the funds a

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[size=52]Parliament's Integrity: Noor Zuhair will remain under house arrest and more than half of the funds are outside Iraq[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]With the government announcing the recovery of the second installment of the “theft of the century,” questions arose about the fate of the rest of the amount and the most prominent suspect in the case, Nour Zuhair.[/size]
[size=45]There were conflicting reports about Zuhair’s release in exchange for him paying part of the recovered money, or that the latter would remain under “house arrest” until all the money was returned.[/size]
[size=45]The money recovered so far, according to the official version, does not constitute only 10% of the original amount, while the last amount may constitute less than 4% if the leaks are true about the existence of other amounts that have not been announced.[/size]
[size=45]The government, the regulatory authorities and the parliament intend to hold a press conference soon to reveal all the dozens involved in the theft.[/size]
[size=45]A large number of employees are involved in the theft, which was described as the “biggest” in Iraq, and accusations against sensitive devices, while it was revealed that more than half of the amount was smuggled abroad.[/size]
[size=45]And the media office of the Prime Minister stated in a statement yesterday, that “with direct follow-up with the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’a Al-Sudani, and in cooperation with the Supreme Judicial Council, the authorities specialized in integrity issues continue the operations of recovering funds related to the tax secretariats that were seized within what is known as (the theft of the century). ".[/size]
[size=45]And he added, “The second batch of those funds was recovered, with an amount of one hundred and thirty-four billion, four hundred and fifty-five million and six hundred thousand dinars, which was duly deposited in the open bank account of the Rafidain Bank, the main branch, so that the total amounts recovered are three hundred and seventeen billion, five hundred and thirty-five million.” Five hundred and thirty-six thousand five hundred and twenty-five dinars.”[/size]
[size=45]He continued, "The operations of recovering money and pursuing the wanted persons are continuing under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister, in implementation of the government program that puts the fight against corruption at the forefront of priorities." Al-Sudani had given the most prominent person involved in the theft, Nour Zuhair, a two-week period (which ended yesterday) to collect the rest of the amount, which the government confirmed amounted to about 4 trillion dinars.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, parliamentary and political sources spoke earlier to (Al-Mada) that the investigations into the accident concluded that the amount is more than announced and could reach 8 trillion dinars.[/size]
[size=45]A Shiite leader said in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “Noor Zuhair’s release was a big mistake.. What if he escaped or was killed by the rest of his partners?”[/size]
[size=45]The leader, who is a former minister and asked not to be identified, adds: "We do not know if Zuhair will be released or punished. It is up to the judiciary."[/size]
[size=45]And leaks had suggested earlier that a “deal between the government and the most prominent suspect in the theft” would be concluded, according to which the latter would be released in exchange for returning part of the amount.[/size]
[size=45]And the former minister underestimated the value of the money that the government announced to return, saying: “The amount is not equal to more than 10% of the total money, and it may be less if it is true that the theft is much greater.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mada had previously learned from informed sources that the operations of withdrawing tax deposits, which were then called the “theft of the century,” began in 2015.[/size]
[size=45]Last week, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said that the "theft of the century" would not be the last, while she expressed her hope that it would be a wake-up call.[/size]
[size=45]And Plasschaert added in a message on the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day: “I have said it many times before… Corruption is one of the main causes of the imbalance in Iraq, and keeping the system as it is will backfire with negative results in the end.”[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, a member of the Integrity Committee revealed that the money that is being handed over to the government belongs to four companies, but is authorized by Nour Zuhair.[/size]
[size=45]Member of the committee, Representative Ali Turki, confirmed in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “Zuhair is under house arrest until all the amounts are returned,” explaining: “After that, he will be tried.” And Turki stated that Nour Zuhair: “He is an authorized representative of the four companies accused of theft, and he is the one who deposits the money.” And the prime minister revealed, at a conference to recover the first installment of the amount of the “theft of the century” two weeks ago, that “the investigation committees reached a conclusion by disbursing 114 checks to the accused, Nour Zuhair, with a total amount of more than one trillion dinars.”[/size]
[size=45]He added that "37 checks were disbursed, with a total amount of 624 billion dinars, to Badia Al-Masar Company," noting that "the authorized director of Badia Al-Masar company is called Abdul Mahdi Tawfiq, and its accused owner is Abdul Rahman Muhammad Ibrahim."[/size]
[size=45]And he continued, “66 checks were spent with a total amount of 982 billion dinars to the Humpback Whale Company to its fugitive authorized director Abdul-Mahdi Tawfiq and its accused owner, Qassem Muhammad.” Kawa.”[/size]
[size=45]And he continued, “The money spent amounted to three trillion, 754 billion, 642 million, and 664 thousand dinars,” stressing that “an agreement was reached between the second Karkh Investigation Court with Noor Zuhair to schedule a recovery of the full amount in the possession of the accused.”[/size]
[size=45]Regarding the list of those accused of theft, a member of the Integrity Committee said that "big heads were involved in the incident."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mada had revealed that the money was transferred by armored cars to “modified houses for storing money” in the upscale Amirat neighborhood in the Mansour district, west of Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]Turki stressed that: "A press conference will be held soon, in which all the details reached by the committees from Parliament, Integrity, Financial Control and the Prime Minister's Office will be announced."[/size]
[size=45]And the committee member stated that: “There are other amounts in the form of real estate inside Iraq, while more than half of the stolen amount was transferred to countries such as Turkey, the UAE and other countries.”[/size]
[size=45]And last Saturday, he had called on the head of the Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun, to put pressure on countries to cooperate with Iraq in recovering the accused and the smuggled assets.[/size]
[size=45]Integrity Media stated, “Hanoun called on the governmental expert group concerned with following up the implementation of the UN and Arab anti-corruption conventions to intensify pressure on the states parties to the two conventions; In order to show cooperation with Iraq in the file of recovering the accused and the smuggled assets.”[/size]
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