New case of theft of the century.. forged checks and officials involved in passing documents to faci

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[size=52]New case of theft of the century.. forged checks and officials involved in passing documents to facilitate the process![/size]

[size=45]In the latest developments in investigations into the theft of tax secretariat funds in Iraq, known as the “theft of the century” case, the British “Middle East Eye” website revealed that the prelude to the theft process that occupied the Iraqi and international streets included targeting the tax accounts of international oil companies by means of fake checks, noting This led to the involvement of officials from two agencies and an Iraqi ministry in passing documents to facilitate the process.[/size]
[size=45]And (Middle East Eye) revealed in a report that a network of Iraqi officials working within state institutions - including the Tax Authority and an anti-corruption monitoring body - are under investigation regarding a plot to steal billions of dinars from the tax accounts of international oil companies.[/size]
[size=45]According to the site, the conspirators - including officials in the Ministry of Justice - targeted tax deposits that oil companies paid to the General Tax Authority in what investigators now believe is a precursor to the so-called "theft of the century."[/size]
[size=45]The main targets were the Chinese Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation, in addition to Lukoil Mid-East Limited, a subsidiary of the Russian energy giant.[/size]
[size=45]Theft scheme
The scheme, which was a prelude to the theft of the century case, included fabricating a paper record of fake documents and checks issued by the General Tax Authority, in July and August 2021, in response to alleged requests from companies to recover tax deposits.[/size]
[size=45]People falsely claiming to represent the oil companies then tried cashing the checks and cashing them in branches of the state-owned Rafidain Bank, which holds tax deposit accounts for the General Tax Authority.[/size]
[size=45]According to an advisor at the Ministry of Finance - who spoke to Middle East Online - that no money was stolen in the end, because the value of some checks amounts to tens of millions of dollars, and that the apparent keenness of some senior officials to facilitate their payment drew attention.[/size]
[size=45]According to this official, the details of the checks were reported to the Federal Integrity Commission, a government tasked with investigating corruption in the public sector, which appointed a special investigator for the case, as some checks were later stopped, while a bank official refused to attempt to cash a check worth more than 44 billion. Dinars ($30 million).[/size]
[size=45]The site indicates that the documents it obtained indicate that some officials working within the General Tax Authority, the Federal Integrity Authority, and the Ministry of Justice participated in passing and documenting documents that facilitated the theft attempt.[/size]
[size=45]Targeting oil companies
Financial investigators believe that the oil companies' tax deposit accounts were targeted by the same network behind the theft of 3.7 trillion dinars ($2.5 billion) from the accounts of the General Tax Authority held at the Rafidain Bank, between September 2021 and August 2022.[/size]
[size=45]People involved in the investigation told Middle East Eye that they believed that many of the elements and tools of the "theft of the century" case - including the use of forged checks - already existed and were under trial, and they confirmed that these tools also helped participants test the response of regulators. And the review, and that in order to avoid discovering their scheme, they worked to improve it, and instead of using people who claim to be representatives of real companies, they used fictitious companies.[/size]
[size=45]According to one of the participants in the investigation, a letter from a senior official in the Federal Integrity Authority to the General Tax Authority, at the end of August 2021, had actually referred to what could be described as a “green light” for thieves by indicating that the Integrity Authority would not interfere in the affairs of tax authority.[/size]
[size=45]Forged
documents Documents obtained by the website show how the issuance of alleged checks to pay requests for refunding tax deposits from oil companies, in August 2021, sparked a wave of correspondence and audits that included officials from the General Authority for Taxes, the Rafidain Bank, the Integrity Commission, as well as the Office of Financial Supervision.[/size]
[size=45]Middle East Eye had previously reported on how the Board of Supreme Audit, a body to monitor public spending, was removed from the role of auditor in tax deposit refund requests. According to the documents, the Supervision Bureau was still performing this role when checks were issued from the China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation and Lukoil in early August of the same year.[/size]
[size=45]The site also learned that the legal document that was submitted to the General Tax Authority on July 8, 2021, which appears to allow an Iraqi businessman to work as a representative of the Chinese company in the country, was verified by the notary at the Federal Ministry of Justice, as it was approved by Tax officials accepted it despite clear indications that it was a fake.[/size]
[size=45]The authorization or legal agency - which appears to be signed by the official of the Chinese company, businessman Ali Muhammad Issa Al-Jaf - grants broad financial powers that include opening and operating bank accounts, withdrawing and depositing funds, receiving checks and withdrawing them in cash on behalf of the company, without the authorization indicating any other details. About Jaf's relationship with the company or basic information such as his Iraqi identity number.[/size]
[size=45]Accordingly, the site checked the agency's reference number and authorization date with the Ministry of Justice, and did not find any record of its existence. Middle East Eye also learned that the notary who initially verified the authorization on July 8, who later confirmed to the Tax Authority its validity. He had been interrogated several times for falsifying credentials, and had been transferred from Baghdad to a small town outside the capital two months ago.[/size]
[size=45]Not only that, as the investigators told the site that a similar document was submitted to the Federal Tax Authority, as the document authorizes a businessman to act on behalf of “Lukoil” and then this document appeared to be forged as well.[/size]
[size=45]Foreign oil companies operating in Iraq must inform state oil companies of the provinces in which they operate. In a letter to the state Basra Oil Company, which is responsible for the oil fields in southern Iraq, Lukoil said that it had not authorized any person or entity to act as its representative in the Tax Authority, and had not received anything in this regard.[/size]
[size=45]The site contacted the media office of the Chinese company, but it refused to comment, and there is no indication that this company was aware of or involved in forging documents using its name, or in an attempt to steal money from the tax deposit account of the tax authority.[/size]
[size=45]Investigators at the Ministry of Finance confirmed that verifying the fake authorization documents and their acceptance by officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Tax and Integrity Commissions facilitated the theft attempt directly, and one of the senior officials said, “It seemed clear that the first attempts to steal these deposits relied on fake documents, then manipulated and accelerated the procedures, These practices culminated in the issuance of checks in favor of these companies.”[/size]
[size=45]Green light
The first check, worth more than 31 billion dinars ($21 million), was issued in the name of the Chinese company on August 2, 2021, and the documents seen by the site indicate that it was approved by the Acting Director General of the Tax Authority, Samer Abdel Hadi Qassem.[/size]
[size=45]As for the second check, with a value of more than 12 billion dinars ($8 million), it was issued in the name of “Lukoil” company a few days later. A few days later, the Assistant Director General of the Tax Authority, Osama Hossam, withdrew the check after the Bureau of Financial Supervision inquired about him, which at that stage was still reviewing requests for refunding the tax deposit.[/size]
[size=45]But according to the documents, the acting director general of the Tax Authority overturned the decision of his assistant, as the first confirmed the authenticity of Lukoil's check on August 16. However, on the same day, Qasim canceled the check issued to him on August 2. The documents do not say why the check was stopped, but investigators told MEE that checks are routinely voided if they raise suspicion.[/size]
[size=45]Two days later, another check was issued to the Chinese company in the amount of 44 billion dinars ($30 million) and again the documents indicate that Qasim approved it, except that the Federal Integrity Authority was informed about this check, according to a source involved in the investigation, as it was considered Small officials of the tax authority this large sum is suspicious.[/size]
[size=45]The source told the site that there was a large exaggeration in the value of the check, and whatever the value of the tax deposits left by the Chinese company, the refund amount will not reach 44 billion dinars, adding, “The value of the check and the speed of its issuance indicate that there is something wrong, despite the confirmation of tax authority officials.” On the validity of the procedures and documents submitted by the applicant.[/size]
[size=45]It is worth noting that Qasim was arrested under the “theft of the century” investigation last October, and Middle East Eye could not reach him for comment.[/size]
[size=45]Involvement of the Integrity Commission
After issuing these two cheques, the Federal Integrity Commission assigned one of its investigators - Bashir Sabah Hadi - to look into the case, as he wrote to the Tax Authority requesting all documents related to the Chinese company's request for refund of tax deposits.[/size]
[size=45]In response, the Acting Director General of the Tax Authority asked the Rafidain Bank to seize the check during the investigation into the matter. However, at the end of August, the Director General of the Investigations Department of the Integrity Authority, Karim Badr Al-Ghazi, wrote to the Tax Authority to say, “We would like to inform you that this authority (the Integrity Commission ) You did not ask to stop the check in question,” indicating that the information provided by the tax authority indicated that “there was no damage to public money.” According to the person involved in the investigation, that book was “the green light that launched the whole process later. It was a written guarantee from Integrity Commission not to obstruct the process.[/size]
[size=45]Hours after receiving al-Ghizi's letter at the end of August, the acting director general of the Tax Authority called the Rafidain Bank to allow him to cash the check for the Chinese company amounting to 44 billion dinars. However, on September 1, a man claiming to be the representative of the Chinese company in Iraq entered a bank branch. Al-Rafidain, who maintains tax deposit accounts for the Tax Authority, and requested that the check be paid in cash immediately.[/size]
[size=45]"There was a final hurdle," says one of the investigators. "The bank manager insisted that the money must be deposited into the company's bank account before it could be withdrawn. The bank manager refused to hand over the money in cash."[/size]
[size=45]The source added that the man did not provide the bank with the details of the company's account and came out empty-handed, but the investigators believe that this is the moment that prompted the final revision of the plan of the conspirators in the theft of the century case, as instead of targeting official companies, they used a network of fake companies and established bank accounts in their name in a bank Mesopotamia.[/size]
[size=45]He adds that after only one week, the first check was deposited on September 9 in an account that was opened two days ago in the name of one of these companies and it was called Al Qant General Contracting Company, where the value of the check - which was withdrawn in cash on the same day - was exactly identical to the amount of the check. Which was issued to the Chinese company, which the bank officials refused to disburse 8 days ago, amounting to 44 billion dinars.[/size]
[size=45]After that, Middle East Eye learned that Bashir Sabah Hadi, an investigator with the Integrity Commission - involved in the theft of the century case, submitted a request for unpaid leave for 5 years in late 2021, as he left the country for an unknown destination, and that he is currently subject to a warrant. arrest.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Ghizi was also removed from office on November 6 by Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani over his failure to prevent the theft of tax deposit funds.[/size]
[size=45]Source: Middle East Eye[/size]
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