An international report excludes the conviction of any senior official in the theft of the century c

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[size=52]An international report excludes the conviction of any senior official in the theft of the century case[/size]

[size=45]Translated by: Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]An international report ruled out the condemnation of any senior official in the case of the secretariats of the Tax Authority known as (the theft of the century), pointing out that the most prominent problems that Iraq suffers from relate to the assignment of special positions to incompetent people who belong to political parties.[/size]
[size=45]And a report by (The National) website, translated by (Al-Mada), stated that “the investigations are still ongoing, since it was announced that the secretariats of the General Tax Authority were stolen in October 2022, amounting to 2.5 billion dollars, which shocked Iraq and the world, and which has become known as the theft of the century.”[/size]
[size=45]The report added, "Experts stated that while several influential political parties were involved in this case, it is unlikely that any senior official will be punished."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that, “Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani directed in mid-November the formation of a supreme commission to combat corruption and assigned the former head of the intelligence hawks cell, Abu Ali al-Basri, who is close to the framework, to assume the presidency of the new commission in an attempt to get to the root of the problem.”[/size]
[size=45]The report pointed out that “Hamza, an Iraqi consultant, used to work for the main financial control body in the government, and whose full name was not revealed, said: If you look at the positions of people in the institutions involved in the theft that took place, or who are mentioned to be involved, it will appear to you.” Several active political figures from several political and partisan sides.[/size]
[size=45]The report noted that “Hamza saw that; Naturally, such a huge theft cannot occur without major players having a share in it.[/size]
[size=45]And the report stressed, “Experts mentioned that one of the problems that Iraq suffers from is that incompetent people often occupy key positions in important ministries with political ties and their role is devoted to how to provide financial benefits to their parties.”[/size]
[size=45]The experts continued, according to the report, that “important ministerial positions known as (special grades) are assigned to these people, which include positions of general directors, so that it is almost impossible to dismiss them from their work, and they have the authority to form new bodies related to their ministries.”[/size]
[size=45]And Hamza goes back to saying, “The appointment of a general manager is by a vote of the Council of Ministers, and his rank cannot be demoted by a minister, and if he is transferred to another place, he will continue in that role.”[/size]
[size=45]Hamza continued, “The transfer needs the approval of the Council of Ministers. Sometimes such an attempt to remove him by the Council of Ministers may not succeed in the event that he has strong ties.”[/size]
[size=45]And the report stated, "Estimates indicate that the amount of $ 2.5 billion, if it had been spent on services in Iraq, would have been sufficient to build nine giant water treatment plants larger than any existing plant in the country."[/size]
[size=45]He explained, "This amount was sufficient for the reconstruction of every school and university that was damaged during the war that took place against the terrorist organization ISIS from 2014 to 2018, and it is sufficient for projects to repair vital land roads in Iraq that exceed the area of ​​Iraq twice."[/size]
[size=45]And the report stated, “Corruption spread in Iraq after 2003, while the United States rushed reconstruction funds at huge rates without supervision, sending billions of dollars in cash because the banking system was not working yet.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The former head of the Integrity Commission, Radi Hamza al-Radi, informed the US Congress in 2007, after escaping from Iraq, that 18 billion dollars in funding had been lost."[/size]
[size=45]The report quotes the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, that “this figure has escalated since that time, to reach more than $320 billion that has been lost.”[/size]
[size=45]And he continues, “This amount is 21.3 times more than Jordan’s 2022 budget of $15 billion, and it is greater than the amounts that Iraq and donor countries have spent on the electricity sector in Iraq since 2003, amounting to $67 billion, by more than 4.77 times.”[/size]
[size=45]And the report went on, “Omar Al-Nadawi, an analyst at the Peace Empowerment Center in Iraq, says: One of the challenges lies in the country’s lack of an experienced and competent professional cadre after receiving threats from political parties.”[/size]
[size=45]And he stressed, “The first method of theft was discovered using the names of fictitious companies on a large scale was in 2011, when the International Integrity Organization revealed that a network of fictitious companies with close links to influential political parties, including the Prime Minister’s office, embezzled sums allocated for purchases.”[/size]
[size=45]The report indicated that “investigators in the Integrity Commission revealed in 2008 evidence of corruption in the Ministry of Commerce, but the Minister of Commerce at the time, Falah al-Sudani, was not asked questions after that by the government that was headed by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.”[/size]
[size=45]And he continued, “This is despite the existence of evidence that he manipulated the state’s deals for food purchases,” explaining that “some estimates indicate that hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen from the sums of the state’s food supply programs.”[/size]
[size=45]And the report indicated, “Corruption operations affected other ministries, including the Ministry of Defense, through suspicious deals to purchase poor-quality military equipment during the years 2004 and 2005 during the time of Iyad Allawi’s government, an arms deal with Russia in 2006 and 2014 during the Maliki government era, and a deal to purchase a fake explosives detector between 2006.” and 2014.”[/size]
[size=45]And he talked about “another corruption that affected the Ministry of Education through a deal to build schools with four companies, three of them Iraqi and one Iranian, and the companies received advance payments that amounted to 235 billion dinars, and only 20 schools out of 100 schools were completed.”[/size]
[size=45]The report went on, that “the analyst, Al-Nadawi, says: In order for Iraq to be able to reduce the rates of corruption, it is necessary to cut off the roots of political corruption, starting from the positions of party directors to the smallest employee and its relations with political parties.”[/size]
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